January 30, 2007

Bolivia suspends meat exports after FMD outbreak
 

The Bolivian government has ordered the nation's farmers to stop exporting meat to its Andean neighbours after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the east of the country.

An FMD outbreak was spotted in Cuatro Canadas, a town in the eastern department of Santa Cruz. Bolivia ordered the suspension of meat and milk products to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

Authorities would work with neighbouring nations' animal health authorities to prevent the spread of the disease, said head of the animal health unit of Bolivia's National Agricultural Health and Food Hygiene Service. The nation has also suspended its claim with the France-based International Animal Health Organisation to be declared free of the disease.