Inspectors stepped up vigilance at US ports and airports today in an effort to block the spread of foot-and-mouth disease to the country.
Some 1,800 inspectors from the US Department of Agriculture, which yesterday suspended imports of European meat and livestock, were on duty at ports of entry throughout the United States.
People arriving in the United States from Europe, South America and Asia are considered high risk while the stricter inspections do not affect passengers from Australia and North America - continents where the disease has yet to surface.
Passengers must inform customs on arrival if they have with them banned animals or agricultural products. Those caught with banned items face fines of up to $1,000.
Travellers must also indicate whether they have visited a farm in the five days prior to arriving in the United States and they must pledge to avoid contact with animals during the first five days of their stay.
Those who are considered at risk of spreading the disease must surrender their shoes on arrival. The footwear is doused in a solution of disinfectant which kills the virus whose spread to France from Britain on Tuesday prompted the US import ban.
AFP