010552 Brazil Spots Foot-And-Mouth After SlaughterMay 20, 2001Santana Do Livramento, Brazil - Brazil confirmed a fresh outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in its southernmost state on Saturday and began slaughtering infected cattle immediately. It is Brazil's fifth case of foot-and-mouth in the past two weeks and comes two days after the state sacrificed hundreds of livestock. At least two more outbreaks are suspected in the region. The agricultural secretariat of Rio Grande do Sul state said it began slaughtering a herd of 67 animals on Brazil's border with Uruguay after 20 cattle were confirmed with the disease. A spokesman for the secretariat added that blood and tissue samples from herds in the nearby town of Alegrete had been taken to laboratories to confirm two more suspected outbreaks. The latest outbreaks came as state authorities used police roadblocks and vaccinations to fight the scourge, which causes fever and blisters on cattle and other cloven-hoofed animals. Foot-and-mouth ravaged farms in Britain and other parts of Europe and there have been widespread outbreaks in Argentina and Uruguay. Brazil's cases prompted the rest of the country, Europe and some Asian countries to ban imports of beef from Rio Grande do Sul. The government said the bans could slice $300 million off Brazil's meat exports this year, estimated at $2.5 billion. Brazil is home to the world's largest commercial cattle herd, with 167 million head. Four police roadblocks were set up at the entrance to the infected farm, in Quarai, close to Alegrete and Santana do Livramento, where the other four cases were spotted. Brazil on Thursday completed the mass slaughter of 323 animals in the region, bulldozing their carcasses into huge pits and banning the transportation of livestock and animal products among the farms in the region, prime cattle ranching territory. The secretariat said the slaughter of the latest infected cattle should be completed by the end of Saturday. Vaccinations of the state's herd are expected to continue for about the next 45 days.
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