German farmers fear ‘massive’ hit from foot-and-mouth outbreak – POLITICO

The EU’s most recent FMD outbreak happened in 2011 in wild boar in Bulgaria. “The outbreak was managed under EU regulations, which included measures such as culling and a standstill on animal movements,” a spokesperson for the European Food Safety Agency told POLITICO, adding that no vaccination was needed.

However, “while mortality rates in animals are generally low, the disease can lead to severe economic losses in production animals and disruption in the national and international trade,” the spokesperson added.

A €5 billion problem

In 2024, German meat exports reached almost €5 billion, but according to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture “it is too early at this stage to make any statements about the extent of the economic damage — be it within the EU or with non-EU countries.”

On the other hand, the German Farmers Association (DBV) already expects the cost to be “massive,” its General Secretary Bernhard Krüsken said. He suspects that the virus has been around for longer than a week and has urged federal leaders to find a way for animal products from FMD-free areas to continue to be exported.

For animal welfare campaigners, this is only a part of a broader, systemic problem.

“One disease chases the other (African swine fever, bluetongue, FMD), quickly causing hysteria in governments and fear for national economies due to industrial farming and a globalised trade in live animals,” Iris Baumgärtner of the Animal Welfare Foundation, a German NGO, told POLITICO.

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