As a precaution, the transport of animals has been banned in the state of Brandenburg after the disease was discovered in a herd of bison near Berlin.
ADVERTISEMENTA 72-hour ban on the transportation of cows, pigs, sheep, goats and other animals such as camels and llamas in Brandenburg came into effect on Saturday, and two zoos in Berlin were closed.
It came after authorities in the state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin, said on Friday that a farmer had found three of a 14-strong herd of water buffalo dead in Hoenow, just outside the city limits. The German National Institute for Animal Health confirmed that foot-and-mouth disease was detected in samples from one animal, and the rest of the herd was slaughtered. It was not clear how the animals were infected.
Authorities said about 200 pigs at a farm in Ahrensfelde, near where the outbreak was discovered, would be slaughtered as a precaution.
The highly contagious viral disease affects ungulates such as cattle, pigs and sheep, including those in zoos. There are strict international regulations that stop its transmission. Although the disease does not affect humans, they can transmit it and infect animals.
Mortality rates are usually low, but the disease can make animals sick with fever, decreased appetite, excessive drooling, blisters and other symptoms.
In Great Britain, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001 led to authorities culling around six million cattle on infected farms and neighboring farms, costing billions of euros. At the time, some farmers said the response was too extreme.
The virus is easily spread by contact and through the air and can quickly infect entire herds. People can also spread the disease through things like farm equipment, shoes, clothing and vehicle tires that have come into contact with the virus.
The last outbreak in Germany was in 1988, and the last in Europe in 2011, according to the German Institute for Animal Health.
