Foot-and-mouth case prompts UK to halt exports

Dubai: Experts in Britain were working round the clock to halt a fresh outbreak of the deadly foot-and-mouth disease after it was discovered on a farm near Guildford in Surrey yesterday.

The Gordon Brown government swiftly banned the export of livestock and livestock products yesterday.

British authorities also halted the movement of cloven-hooved animals nationwide in a bid to control the highly infectious virus that devastated the farming industry six years ago.

"Our first priority has been to act quickly and decisively," said Brown, who returned to London from a summer holiday to deal with the outbreak.

However, European states immediately rushed to adopt precautionary steps.

The European Commission said it had banned all live animal exports from the United Kingdom, as well as meat and dairy products from the infected area.

The US Department of Agriculture said that it was barring all products derived from susceptible species.

Contraction conditions

In the UAE, Dr Ali Al Marzouqi, Director of Public Health Department, Dohms, told Gulf News there was no need for precautions as infected cattle are unlikely to come to the UAE.

He said the disease is contracted only if there is long exposure to affected farms. An official at Dubai Municipality's food and health department concurred, saying live animals were no longer imported from Britain.