Germany puts foot-and-mouth disease vaccines on standby

The German state of Brandenberg has moved to activate its foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine bank, in the event that it has to use vaccines to curtail any spread of the disease.

On Friday 10 January, three water buffalo tested positive for the highly contagious disease.

Tests carried out on other animals locally have returned negative results. The activation of the vaccine bank is a precautionary measure.

The European Commission allows member states to use these vaccines as an additional disease control measure, subject to certain conditions.

The vaccine will be kept in stock as a possible control measure in the event of a further spread of the disease or in the event of its occurrence in other regions of Germany.

Activation

The activation of the FMD vaccine bank at this time serves to strengthen the ability to respond in the fight against the disease, as at least six days are needed from activation to the possible provision of vaccine doses, according to the state.

“This decision to activate the FMD vaccine bank is not a decision for the actual use of this vaccine.

“In Brandenburg, vaccination is not planned given the current epidemic situation. So far, there is one outbreak farm in Brandenburg and all previous tests in the vicinity of the outbreak farm have been negative, so no further spread of the disease has been detected so far,” it said.

Netherlands

Last week, the Dutch minister for agriculture Femke Wiersma banned the movement of calves in the Netherlands after it emerged that calves had been imported from Brandenberg.

Data from the Dutch authorities shows that since 1 December 2024, 131 farms had imported cloven-hoofed animals from Brandenburg.

This comprised 126 veal calf farms, four dairy farms and one sheep farm.

All animals imported from Brandenburg since 1 December - of which there were 3,624 calves, six cattle and 124 sheep - have now been tested for FMD by the Dutch authorities.

A total of 888 animals were imported less than two weeks ago. All imported animals tested negative and no FMD was found in the Netherlands.

Furthermore, all negative tested bluetongue samples since 1 December last year have now been tested for FMD virus using a PCR test. All 203 samples in question tested negative for FMD virus.

The ban on removals and visitors for veal farming imposed by ministerial regulation will be reassessed by the minister next week, after completion of the further tests.