Foot-And-Mouth Fears Spread

If you're entering the U.S. from the U.K., and have visited a rural area, you're likely to be asked to step on a spongy doormat filled with insecticides and if you've got any meat products in your baggage, they'll be confiscated.

U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Jerry Redding says those are some of the precautions currently in place against the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, a wasting illness that affects livestock and has turned up in 70 different outbreaks in Britain and Ireland since late February.

In an interview with CBSNews.com, Redding says the highly contagious virus "is easily destroyed, but it's persistent and can be dormant for a long time - on your shoes, your clothes, even the tires on a car."

The disease is feared by farmers because it affects the weight of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs - and thus their market value - and can also cause dairy cattle to stop giving milk, while at times proving life-threatening to young animals.

Redding says the U.S. precautions were put into place on February 21, when the USDA was informed of the problem by the U.K.

"People who have been in the U.K. who have visited a farm or have been in contact with any of these species - we're asking them to wash and disinfect their clothing before they return, with bleach or detergent," says Redding.

He notes that the U.S. restrictions are a backstop to those already in place in Britain, including a ban on export of a wide range of animal products. "Our ban is basically a reinforcement of theirs. We don't want it to get on an airplane and head this way," stresses Redding.

Mainland European countries destroyed thousands of animals imported from Britain before the British export ban took effect. Ireland, France, Germany, Portugal and Belgium have imposed strict restrictions on animal transport, including border checks at airports, seaports and highway border crossings to halt the import of meat and dairy products by travelers from Britain.

Humans do not contract foot-and-mouth disease but are efficient carriers of the virus, and most restrictions in effect in Europe and the near East are crafted with that in mind, disinfecting people, animal and vehicles who may have traveled into an infected area.

The virus can also be carried for miles by the wind, as well as by contaminated hay, water or manure.

Reuters A French farmer cries after 800 of her lambs were killed to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

So far, there have been no confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth in continental Europe.

But with fears growing that the diseas will spread from Britain and Northern Ireland, France outlined strict new security measures that will freeze some sectors of its animal industry. Over the weekend, Belgium shut down its two largest zoos and Denmark quarantined seven farms.

"We think we must react...in a rapid and immediate way because it is better to act when there are antibodies present in the animal and when the disease has not yet been declared," says French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.

The French herds that tested positive for antibodies to the virus had already been slaughtered under a government decision to kill 20,000 sheep imported into France and 30,000 other animals that has been in contact with British animals.

In Italy, Agriculture Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio says he will ask the EU Tuesday to close all national borders to imports and exports of livestock susceptible to foot- and-mouth.

In Belgium, tests on pigs imported from Britain and found to have blisters continue, but so far, none have been determined to have the disease.

In Germany, tests for foot-and-mouth disease on sheep at a western farm - one of three sites that had been sealed off over fears of the highly contagious illness - have also proved negative.

In Iran, three livestock locations have tested positive for the disease, according to the daily newspaper Qods. Veterinarians blame the problem - which is said to be under control -on unauthorized imports of cattle from Afghanistan.

Cases have also been reported in Turkey, according to the Iraqi news agency INA, which says Iraq has sent teams to the border to disinfect all incoming cars and travelers' shoes.

In Pakistan, possible symptoms of the disease were spotted among the thousands of sheep brought to Karachi for sacrifice at the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

Muslims in Britain are coping with the disease's impact on their holiday ritual by having Muslims in 22 other countries - including Bangladesh, Mozambique and Bosnia - perform their animal sacrifices by proxy.

It's a solution, but not satisfying to all.

"The only problem was they could not enjoy the qurbani meat," lamented Tanzeem Wasti, head of the UK Islamic Mission.

By Francie Grace © MMI Viacom Internet Services Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Reuters Limited and the Associated Press contributed to this report