France steps up checks after foot-and-mouth outbreak in Germany

PARIS (Reuters) - France has reinforced checks for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and issued alerts to veterinarians after an outbreak of the highly contagious virus was detected in cattle in Germany last week, prompting trade bans from several countries.

France is trying to protect itself from the virus as it grapples with other animal diseases, including bird flu and bluetongue, that caused severe damage to its livestock sector.

Germany announced its first outbreak of FMD in nearly 40 years last week in a herd of water buffalo on the outskirts of Berlin in the Brandenburg region.

The detection prompted countries including Britain, South Korea and Mexico to ban meat and animals from Germany.

"The Ministry is on alert on this subject. Our departments are closely monitoring developments in Germany. To date, we have drastically stepped up controls and investigations in the animal sectors concerned," the French agriculture ministry said.

A tracking of recent imports of live cloven-hoofed animals and from Germany showed that none originated from the area near the outbreak, French veterinary authorities said.

Alerts and information bulletins have been distributed to livestock professionals and veterinarians to emphasize the clinical signs and lesions associated with FMD and the procedures to follow in case of a suspected case, it said on its website.

The last outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in France occurred in 2001 as part of a major outbreak which also affected Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands, resulting in the culling of thousands of animals under sanitary measures.

Germany's farming and food industry is likely to have lost about 1 billion euros ($1 billion) of business following the outbreak, the farming cooperatives association said on Thursday.

(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; editing by David Evans)