The commercial import of cattle, pigs, sheep, deer, buffaloes and their products such as meat and dairy from Germany will be banned to protect farmers and their livelihoods. There are no cases in the UK currently.
FMD poses no risk to human or food safety, but is a highly contagious viral disease of cattle, sheep, pigs and other cloven-hoofed animals. It causes significant economic losses due to production losses in the affected animals as well as loss of access to foreign markets for animals, meat and milk for affected countries.
Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner said: “The Government will do whatever it takes to protect our nation’s farmers from the risk posed by foot and mouth disease.
“That is why restrictions have immediately been brought in on animal products from Germany to prevent an outbreak and we will not hesitate to add additional countries to the list if the disease spreads. We will continue to keep the situation under review working closely with the German authorities.”