Uruguay: FMD outbreak would cost $2 billion - leatherbiz: Leading news Leatherbiz

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Uruguay: FMD outbreak would cost $2 billion

10/02/2012
Uruguay's minister for agriculture, Tabaré Aguerre, has told his cabinet colleagues that an outbreak of foot and mouth disease would cost the country's economy between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.

He urged everyone in the country to exercise caution. There is an official vaccination programme for cattle, but the minister said this wasn't enough as Uruguay's last outbreak of the disease, in 2001, started off among pigs and then spread. Pigs are not vaccinated agains the disease at the moment.

"FMD is not a problem just for our packer firms," he said, "but for the entire population of Uruguay."

Beef and cattle represent Uruguay's biggest sources of export revenue. Beef exports in 2011 achieved record revenues of $1.35 billion. In addition, Uruguay currently enjoys a high enough reputation to be able to export live cattle to some of the most strict export markets in the world, including China.


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