Animal testing by authorities in Germany has not resulted in any further cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) being detected within 1km of the site of an outbreak that was confirmed last week.

Last Friday (January 10), authorities confirmed an outbreak of the highly contagious disease in a herd of water buffalo in the state of Brandenburg, in the northeast of the country.

As a result, a protection zone with a radius of 3km and a surveillance zone with a radius of 10km were set up around the site of the initial outbreak.

Veterinary authorities examined and sampled susceptible animals on holdings within a radius of 1km from the outbreak site in the Markisch-Oderland district.

The results of the tests on these samples in a state laboratory are now available, with the Brandenburg state agriculture ministry saying the samples examined were found to be negative.

This means that there is no further outbreak of FMD within a radius of 1 kilometer, the authorities confirmed.

It is understood that the 3km protection zone and the 10km surveillance zone will remain in place. These zones have been given official approval by the European Commission, the Brandenburg ministry said.

Also this week, Germany's federal minister for agriculture met with stakeholders in the country’s agriculture and food sector to discuss the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

Agriculture minister Cem Ozdemir met with industry stakeholders for the first time to discuss the unfolding situation, and the possible consequences.

Following the meeting, Minister Ozdemir said (in a statement translated from German): “Our common goal must be to quickly push back the virus in order to protect the animals and minimize damage to our agriculture and food industry.

“The highest priority now is therefore to quickly provide clarity on how widespread the highly infectious animal disease is," he said.

He noted that, under the EU internal market, trade with areas of Germany that are free from foot-and-mouth disease is still possible, under the principle of ‘regionalisation’.

“When it comes to trade with third countries (non-EU countries), we are doing everything we can to quickly enable exports to as many markets as possible," Ozdemir commented.