London — Dramatically escalating its bid to stop the wildfire spread of foot-and-mouth disease, Britain announced plans Thursday to slaughter up to 100,000 animals that may have come in contact with the virus in addition to more than 200,000 sheep, cows and pigs already killed or marked for death.
The drastic move, announced by Agriculture Minister Nick Brown, came as reverberations of the nearly month-old outbreak rippled far beyond British shores.
Continental Europe, shaken by the disease's spread to France this week, worked to strengthen its internal defenses against the virus even as the rest of the world scrambled to shut out European meat and dairy products, including those from countries that have remained disease-free.
In America, the U.S. Agriculture Department heightened efforts to keep the virus out of the United States. Airport passengers from Europe and Argentina had their shoes scrubbed at terminals.
Foot-and-mouth disease poses no threat to humans, but when it strikes countries or trade blocs that had previously been certified as free of the ailment it can have disastrous commercial consequences.
If they want to restore their disease-free status crucial for agricultural trade countries can find themselves faced with the necessity of destroying animals.
If they resort instead to vaccination, which does not always work well, they effectively renounce their claim to a share of the lucrative export market.
As the outbreak drags on, relations between Britain and the rest of Europe and Europe and the rest of the world were showing signs of strain. Europe is unhappy over U.S. and Canadian bans on European Union livestock, fresh meat and dairy products.
The European Commission said Thursday that it would not immediately take trade action against the United States and Canada, but did not rule out retaliatory steps later.
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