It had disappeared since 2011 in Europe: foot-and-mouth disease returns to Germany, what risks for cattle in France?

Les buffles sont en première ligne en Allemagne. MAXPPP – Patrice Lefevre

Three first cases have been identified in buffaloes in Germany. Highly contagious, the disease generally remains benign.

An animal viral disease that is often benign but highly contagious, foot-and-mouth disease is making a comeback in Europe. Three cases have been detected in Germany, the first since 2011 in Europe, were detected in a herd of buffaloes near Berlin.

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“The outbreak of the disease is located in the Brandenburg region, near Berlin […] These are the first reports of this disease in Germany since 1988”, says a spokesman for the German Ministry of Agriculture, Michael Hauck, who specifies that “restriction zones” have been set up around the outbreak.

“This disease is not dangerous for humans who consume meat and dairy products, but humans can transmit the disease,” specifies the Ministry of Agriculture.

Still haemorrhagic fever

The latest major epidemics have been recorded in the United Kingdom, with 2,000 animals slaughtered in 2007, and in Bulgaria, in 2011.

In France, with each alert, the Ministry of Agriculture reminds us that it is one of the “most contagious animal diseases” which can cause significant economic damage and, sometimes, kill the youngest animals in a herd.

It is subject to mandatory reporting, which automatically triggers a herd protection plan, with emergency slaughter, disinfection, and the establishment of a surveillance zone.

To date, the Ministry of Agriculture has not called for particular vigilance while remaining focused on MHE, epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), which has been the subject of reports of 3,604 outbreaks since June, particularly in Hérault, Aveyron, Pyrénées-Orientales and Lozère.