Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 28, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
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Germany seeks EU aid for farmers after a foot-and-mouth disease case in Brandenburg. Import bans and containment measures are in place.
HAMBURG (Reuters) - Germany’s agriculture minister will seek financial aid for farmers hit by the impact of a case of foot-and-mouth disease on a farm in east Germany, the ministry said.
The country announced its first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in nearly 40 years on Jan. 10 in a herd of water buffalo near Berlin in the Brandenburg region. That remains the only reported case so far.
The minister, Cem Oezdemir, said that containing the disease was top priority but he wished that “no farm should close because of foot-and-mouth disease.”
The country was seeking crisis aid for farmers from the EU and was also in talks with its finance ministry, he said.
Pig prices in the country have stabilised as fears subsided that foot-and-mouth disease would spread, while the EU has indicated that German meat and dairy product sales outside the region containing the case could continue.
Some emergency measures to restrict spread of the highly infectious disease, which poses no danger to humans, were lifted but quarantine zones remain in force.
Measures to contain the disease often involve bans on imports of meat and dairy products from affected countries. The UK, South Korea and Mexico imposed import bans on Germany, with the British decision causing pain to Germany’s livestock sector.
German animal disease research institute Friedrich Loeffler has said three months must pass without a new case before Germany can be regarded as foot-and-mouth free.
(Reporting by Michael Hogan, Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Germany reported its first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in nearly 40 years on January 10, affecting a herd of water buffalo near Berlin.
The agriculture minister, Cem Oezdemir, is seeking financial aid for farmers affected by the outbreak and is in talks with the EU and the finance ministry.
Pig prices in Germany have stabilized as fears of the disease spreading have subsided, although some emergency measures remain in place.
Quarantine zones remain in effect, and some emergency measures have been lifted, but bans on imports of meat and dairy products from affected countries are still enforced.
The Friedrich Loeffler Institute has stated that Germany must go three months without a new case before it can be regarded as foot-and-mouth free.
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