French status to be reviewed after second case

European Union veterinary experts will review the foot-and-mouth situation in France on Tuesday following the discovery of the…

European Union veterinary experts will review the foot-and-mouth situation in France on Tuesday following the discovery of the country's second case of the disease in a farm east of Paris.

The EU had planned to relax restrictions on French livestock and animal products after it appeared the French outbreak had been confined to one farm in the northwest of the country, but that looks unlikely after the discovery of the second case yesteday.

The French authorities themselves imposed still tighter restrictions on Friday, imposing a ban on all exports of fresh meat, pasteurized milk products and untreated hides and skins. That is added to the EU's ban on exports of live animals.

In a statement, the European Commission said the French decision to close its borders to exports of non-treated animal products had been taken in co-operation with the EU head office.

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It said the new restrictions were introduced "to allow time to fully investigate a number of previous movement of animals which may have been exposed to the virus".

French authorities are investigating if the animals in the second outbreak had been shipped from the previously infected area in defiance of a ban on such transports.

AP