Foot-and-mouth in Europe

Countries all over Europe are acting urgently to try to halt the spread of foot-and-mouth disease from its source in the UK. Click on the map above to find out what individual countries are doing.

The European Union suspended livestock markets, although it now says the transportation of cattle and pigs will be allowed to restart in most areas as measures take effect. It extended a ban on the export of meat, livestock and milk products from the UK. The tyres of all vehicles entering other EU countries from the UK must be disinfected.

(Click here for a more detailed map showing impact in the UK)

One case of the disease confirmed in a flock of sheep near Jenkinstown in County Louth on 22 March.

There has been a compulsory cull of healthy animals near the sites of the disease and blood tests on sheep and cattle. Irish army special forces have also been shooting wild goats and deer which can carry the disease.

There are strict border controls on traffic entering from Northern Ireland. The movement of all farm animals has been banned and abattoirs closed. The use of pig swill is to be banned.

Hunting has been banned, and the Six Nations Rugby matches with Wales, England and Scotland have been postponed until next season.

A full lifting of the restrictions is not planned until 30 days after the last confirmed foot-and-mouth case in the UK is detected.

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By 3 June, there were 1,697 confirmed cases of the disease in the UK.

At least 2,896,000 animals have been slaughtered and 77,000 animals are awaiting slaughter. Pig swill is to be banned.

The European Union has approved a request for authorisation to vaccinate up to 180,000 dairy cattle in Cumbria and Devon. No decision has been taken on whether to go ahead.

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Spain has slaughtered more than 500 pigs imported from the UK, and banned the movement of goats and sheep. When France confirmed its first case of foot-and-mouth on 13 March, Spain immediately banned the movement of French livestock.

It has been testing 66,000 animals imported from France, including some 131 cattle imported from the affected area in France.

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France's second case of the disease was confirmed at a farm in Mitry-Mory, east of Paris, on 23 March, 10 days after the first, in the western department of Mayenne.

But with no new cases reported by 13 April, the EU lifted export bans on French livestock.

Export bans on meat and dairy produce were lifted on 3 April, except from three areas of the country where the disease had been found.

There is a ban on imports from the UK, Ireland, Belgium.

The French authorities have destroyed 20,000 sheep imported from the UK and 30,000 sheep that came into contact with UK animals.

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A calf in northern Luxembourg has developed symptoms that could be a suspected case of foot-and-mouth disease, the agriculture ministry said on 10 April. Initial tests proved negative.

Meanwhile the area around Boxhorn farm has been sealed off. All animal transport has been banned and non-authorised persons have been barred from farms in the area.

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A pig farm at Diksmuide, western Flanders, tested negative for the disease, after 300 animals were slaughtered as a precaution.

Belgium has destroyed 1,000 sheep imported from UK since 1 February and has halted the transport of live goats and sheep.

When the first outbreak of the disease in France was confirmed on 13 March, Belgium imposed an immediate ban on French livestock imports.

On 12 April, as the disease continued to spread in the Netherlands, Belgium tightened border controls, while at the same time relaxing controls on the border with France.

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Three new cases of foot-and-mouth disease were confirmed on 12 April, taking the total to 25.

A case was found on 11 April on a dairy farm in a remote northern region which had until then been unaffected. A 10km exclusion zone is to be set up around the farm, in Ee, and about 3,000 cows and several thousand sheep within a 2km radius are to be destroyed.

In an area of 200 square kilometres around the main cluster of cases, 115,000 animals are being slaughtered.

Thousands of sheep, cattle, pigs and deer at farms known to do business with the UK have already been slaughtered.

The Dutch were the first to seek - and gain - permission to vaccinate animals around infected farms, to create a firebreak against the infection spreading.

The programme is under way, but the discovery of new cases could mean the policy has come too late to stop the virus leapfrogging the firebreak and spreading from farm to farm, as it has in the UK.

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Initial tests on a possible outbreak at a pig farm in North Rhine-Westphalia, near the Dutch border proved negative. It was the latest in a series of scares. The farm remains cordoned off.

The German Government has applied to the European Union, on behalf of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, for permission to vaccinate a million animals within 25km of the Dutch border.

There is a ban on the transport of all animals at risk from foot-and-mouth disease. Sheep, goats, cows and pigs can only be transported in "exceptional" cases to slaughterhouses or other farms, and police have stepped up controls.

All sheep and goats imported from the UK have been slaughtered, and there are quarantine orders on farms thought to have been supplied with animals from infected areas of the UK.

On 13 March, following the first confirmed outbreak in France, North Rhine-Westphalia announced that all sheep imported from France in the previous three weeks would be destroyed. And Germany immediately banned all French livestock imports.

Airport arrivals are being monitored to ensure no meat or milk is brought into the country.

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Despite several suspected cases, and the discovery of anti-bodies in some animals imported from France, Italy has not had any cases of the disease.

Meanwhile there is a ban on the import of all animals at risk, including non-European livestock. Sheep and pigs imported from the UK have been impounded for tests for the disease.

There are severe restrictions on animal transport and gatherings like fairs, and circuses

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From 5 April the Czech Republic cancelled the disinfection of cars and passengers at all of its border crossings with Germany and Austria. It dropped border restrictions with Poland on 28 March.

Airline passengers arriving from the UK have been subject to disinfection procedures since 2 March.

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Imports of livestock from the European Union and 12 other European countries has been banned, as has some meat and dairy imports. There are disinfectant measures in place at borders.

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Tests on a cow suspected with the disease in the north-west of the country proved negative but several farms have been put under quarantine as a precaution. On 28 March three suspected cases in the west of the country also proved negative.

Private food imports into Denmark have been banned and visits to cattle farms restricted.

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A British Royal Air Force squadron which had been due to join a military exercise in Norway stayed away on the advice of veterinary authorities. Meanwhile there is a temporary ban on traditional reindeer races, and a ban on all events that involve bringing together hoofed animals.

On 14 March, Norway extended a ban on French livestock imports to all meat and animal products from the European Economic Area - the 15 European Union countries plus Liechtenstein and Iceland.

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A farm in eastern Sweden was briefly sealed off on 9 April after possible signs of the disease were detected on a three-week-old calf. Tests showed it was a false alarm.

There is a temporary ban on traditional reindeer races, and a ban on all events that involve bringing together hoofed animals.

On 14 March, at the European Union-backed Food Chain 2001 Convention, in Uppsala, more than 500 animals were being locked away in winter quarters for fear they could catch foot-and-mouth carried on the clothes of delegates.

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A suspected case of the disease at a dairy farm in southern Finland turned out to be a false alarm. Meanwhile there is a temporary ban on traditional reindeer races, and a ban on all events that involve bringing together hoofed animals.

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On 26 March, Russia extended its ban on UK and some French meat, to the whole of the European Union, but that ban was partially lifted on 9 April. Russia had banned imports of meat from cows, sheep and other animals affected by the disease.

It also lifted the ban on fish and poultry, precooked meat products and some types of fodder. Fish and poultry cannot catch foot-and-mouth, but there had been fears that transporting them across borders could help spread the disease.

Russia has also freed up imports of meat and related products from non-European countries shipped across the Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian borders and through those countries' ports.

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