DA bans livestock, meat products from Europe

The Philippines has imposed a temporary ban on imported livestock and meat from Europe to prevent the spread of the foot and mouth disease (FMD), officials said yesterday.

The move expands the coverage of the import ban imposed last month on cattle, hogs, sheep and meat products from Britain following an outbreak of the disease there.

In a memorandum issued Wednesday but made public yesterday, Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor ordered the immediate suspension of veterinary quarantine permits and import applications for meat products from European countries.

He also ordered quarantine officers to stop and confiscate shipments of meat products from Europe at all Philippine ports.

Montemayor said local livestock and meat products are free of the disease and the ban is meant only as an "emergency measure" to protect the country’s livestock.

"Despite reports of FMD cases in Europe, the country’s local livestock have remained immune from the dreaded disease," Montemayor said. "All local livestock and their meat products are safe for human consumption."

The disease has struck livestock, mostly hogs, in the country in the past and there is constant warning against its spread. In some cities, airplane passengers must step on mats soaked with antiseptic on arrival.

Dr. Isabelle Chmitelin, deputy director general of France’s Ministry of Agriculture, in an e-mail to her local counterpart reported that cows and even young bulls imported from the United Kingdom have caused an outbreak of FMD in Paris.

Chmitelin said that Paris is now insulating the porous French borders from the entry of animals from England.

She added that precautionary measures have also been adopted in France such as the regulation of agriculture trade and the examination of all animals around the country.

"Our studies show that the origin of infection came from 500 meters from the infected farm (near Mayenne) that had imported sheep from the United Kingdom," Chmitelin said.

FMD is common among cloven-footed animals. When infected, the livestock experience fever and show lesions in the mouth, tongue and skin near the hooves. As a result, they cannot eat, become weak and susceptible to other diseases and eventually die. – Rommel Ynion, Jose Rodel Clapano