France steps up sheep cull

A German farm is cordoned off and disinfected

France's Agriculture Ministry has announced that 30,000 sheep which have been in contact with animals imported from the UK are to be slaughtered in an effort to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

Europe takes action

France - 50,000 sheep to be slaughtered

Germany - tests ordered on all UK animals

Netherlands - 4,300 animals slaughtered

Belgium - 1,000 sheep to be destroyed

Republic of Ireland - destroying 1,000 sheep

They will be killed in addition to 20,000 sheep imported since 1 February from sites in the UK affected by the disease.

This is nearly five times greater than the number of animals slaughtered or due to be destroyed in Britain, the source of the outbreak.

French Agriculture Minister Jean Glavany said half the imported British sheep had already been slaughtered for commercial purposes, but the meat will be taken out of circulation.

Demand for mutton is currently high in France because the country's large Muslim community is preparing to celebrate the religious holiday of Eid Al-Adha on 5 March.

And despite the government's precautions, French experts say it is quite possible for the disease to cross the channel, borne by either the wind or seagulls.

Bare shelves: No UK meat or milk on sale at Marks and Spencer in Paris

Elsewhere in Europe, five sheep in Germany that were found to have foot-and-mouth antibodies in their blood have tested negative for the disease itself.

Sigrun Neuwerth, spokeswoman for the German Ministry of Consumer Protection and Agriculture, told the Associated Press news agency that the latest tests showed a "great probability" that there was no infection.

Checks at a farm near Dusseldorf had earlier found foot-and-mouth antibodies in the blood of five sheep, indicating that they had been in contact with the disease.

The animals were among 1,500 sheep imported from UK which the German authorities are slaughtering as a precaution against the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

The authorities have now sealed off an area measuring three square kilometres around the affected farm near the town of Neuss.

But BBC Berlin correspondent Peter Morgan says that the panic is not over yet.

Airport checks

Not all the animals exported from Britain to Germany since the foot-and-mouth scare began have been traced.

Restrictions on the movement of livestock remain in place and all animal markets have been closed for the next seven days at least.

And German officials said they had been monitoring arrivals at airports to check they were not bringing milk or meat into the country, "down to the last slice of salami".

In Belgium, the agriculture minister has ordered the destruction of about 1,000 sheep imported from Britain since 1 February, while in the Netherlands, 4,300 animals linked to UK farms have been slaughtered.

The Republic of Ireland is destroying more than 1,000 sheep as a precaution.