Foot-and-Mouth Case Confirmed in Russia’s Far East, Region Quarantined

MosNews
Aug. 23, 2005

The Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Control Service (Rosselkhoznadzor) has confirmed that foot-and-mouth disease has been found among a large group of cattle in the Lermontovsky farm in the Khabarovsk territory, Rosselkhoznadzor said in a release, the Interax news agency reported.

Addressing a news briefing in Moscow on Monday, Yevgeny Nepoklonov, a senior veterinary official, said foot-and-mouth disease had been discovered in cows in the region of Khabarovsk near the Chinese border, where quarantine had been imposed on three local farms.

Foot-and-mouth does not harm humans but is a highly contagious disease which causes fever in cattle, affects reproduction and reduces meat output.

Nepoklonov also urged the international community on Monday to make a joint effort to halt the spread of bird flu, which is potentially fatal to humans and is being carried by migratory birds across its vast territory, Reuters reported.

“This is not a problem of just one country —- Russia or Kazakhstan —- it is a global problem which should be dealt with by joint efforts at a global level,” Yevgeny Nepoklonov, a senior veterinary official, told a news briefing.