February 9, 2006
Argentina gapples with foot-and-mouth disease
Argentina has been hit by a new outbreak of, Jorge Amaya, head of the Argentine National Service for Food Safety and Quality, said Wednesday.
The diseases was discovered in 70 animals in the town of San Luis del Palmar, in the northern province of Corrientes.
Since the outbreak was detected on Saturday, Argentine authorities have cordoned off the area and culled more than 3,000 animals, which borders Uruguay and Brazil.
Amaya said Argentina had reported the outbreak to the World Organization for Animal Health and health officials of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur). Members of Mercosur include Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, with Chile and Bolivia as associate states.
Since Argentina shares borders with all the Mercosur members and the infected town was close to the borders of Uruguay and Brazil, authorities scrambled to tighten border controls.
The governments of Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay immediately strengthened their border controls as soon as news of the outbreak was received.
Foot-and-mouth disease has previously caused heavy losses to Mercosur member nations.
Uruguayan Agriculture Minister Jose Mujica told local media that the country had set up animal hygiene barriers on its borders with Brazil and Argentina to halt possible infection. Uruguay beef exports had just received approval from Mexico after a four year ban.
Brazil and Chile both suspended Argentine beef imports, while Paraguay imposed a ban on imports of live animals and high-risk products.
In the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul, which was close to the infected area, authorities established a hygiene barrier to inspect every vehicle passing through.
Brazil is still under a ban by 56 nations since the end of 2005 as a result of the disease in its southern states.
Foot-and-mouth is a viral disease among cattle, goats and sheep. It causes fever and blistery lesions on the tongue, lips and hoofs of the animal.
