Dutch Agriculture Minister Mr Laurens-Jan Brink horst yesterday extended an export ban to cover all meat and fresh dairy products after two new cases of foot-and-mouth were confirmed in the Netherlands. The new cases bring to 22 the number of Dutch outbreaks.
For the first time, the disease was reported in the northern province of Friesland, in the town of Ee, but the Minister said it was not known how the virus reached the area.
Previous cases were all in the eastern provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel. The EU has banned exports of meat and dairy products from the four Dutch provinces with infected sites.
The news that the virus reached the north shocked the Dutch farmers' organisation, LTO.
"We had hoped that the northern Netherlands would have been spared from the virus," a spokesman said.
Fears are mounting among farmers that efforts by the authorities, including a ban on the movement of animals and animal products to contain the epidemic, are not working.
While the outbreak in the north was seen as worrisome, all eyes were on the southern provinces where the virus could wreak havoc in areas where there is intensive pig farming.
The spread of the disease will be hard to contain with so many animals together in a relatively small area.