Danish Slaughterhouse Closed Because Of Fear Of Foot-And-Mouth Disease
COPENHAGEN - Danish authorities Thursday closed a slaughterhouse because of fears that a cow had foot-and-mouth disease. The Danish Crown abattoir in Holstebro, 300 kilometers (190 miles) northwest of Copenhagen, suspended activities after a cow due to be slaughtered was found to have symptoms of the disease.
7 September 2007
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Veterinary officials were inspecting the slaughterhouse and the herd it came from, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration said in a statement.
Foot-and-mouth disease is not harmful to humans but affects cloven-hoofed animals including cows, sheep, pigs and goats. It spreads so quickly that entire herds and flocks must be destroyed to contain it.
The last foot-and-mouth epidemic in Denmark was in 1982-1983 when it had reportedly spread from the former East Germany.
The suspicious case in Denmark followed an outbreak detected in Britain on Aug. 3 blamed on a lapse in biosecurity at a research laboratory facility in southern England.
Britain slaughtered about 600 animals and suspended exports of livestock, meat and milk products for nearly three weeks. But the Danish government agency said no live cloven-hoofed animals had been imported from Britain since May.
