The USDA has taken action to temporarily prohibit U.S. imports of animals and animal products from the European Union. Since the initial outbreak in the United Kingdom on February 20^th and a subsequent outbreak in France, more than 100,000 animals have been destroyed with the potential slaughtering of hundreds of thousands more in a effort to halt the spread of FMD. Characterized by fever and blisters followed by erosions on the tongue and lips, in the mouth, on the teats, and between the hooves, FMD is a highly transmissible viral disease of cattle, swine, sheep, goats, deer and other cloven-hoofed animals. Although not fatal, FMD leaves animals debilitated and causes severe losses in the production of milk and meat.

The U.S. has not imported any beef from the United Kingdom (UK) since 1985. Import of ruminant animals and ruminant products from the UK and other countries with BSE was banned in 1989 and import of live ruminant animals and animal products from all European countries was banned in 1997.

The USDA had previously banned import of hogs and pork products from the UK following the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak there. In 2000, the U.S. imported $216 million (64.4 thousand metric tons) of pork from the EU. This represented about a third of all U.S. pork imports and most of these imports were from Denmark.

NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets is working diligently to help prevent the spread of this disease to the United States. The Department has trained two additional veterinarians as Foreign Animal Disease Diagnosticians (FADDs), giving NYS eleven FADDs in the state, five employed by the state and six employed by the federal government. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is also in the process of training an additional FADD.

NYS Ag & Markets is also adding in-service training for state veterinarians to aid in responding to possible FMD outbreaks in the state. Should FMD be detected in New York, the Department is prepared to take appropriate actions to protect the state’s livestock industry.