| http://www.meatingplace.com/meatingplace/DailyNews/News.asp?ID=7473
German Vehicles Fail Foot-and-Mouth Tests at Texas Port by Joshua Lipsky An Agriculture Department official in Beaumont, Texas, rejected 35 of 66 German military vehicles from moving out of the Port of Beaumont because they did not pass inspection for possible foot-and-mouth disease contamination, according to The Beaumont Enterprise. The USDA official also rejected five of 13 shipping containers because exterior dirt hadn't been cleaned before arrival at the port. “There is really no way to determine if (soil on the trucks and containers) is contaminated with foot-and-mouth disease,” Doug Frank, the USDA official told the Enterprise. “Importation of soils into the United States in general is prohibited. “This [preventing the introduction of foot-and-mouth into the U.S.] is our priority right now,” Frank added. “We're doing everything we possibly can to keep this disease out of the United States.” The German equipment was bound for joint exercises at Fort Bliss with Dutch and English military units. (To read more about the joint military exercises and precautions the USDA is taking, read USDA Taking Extra Foot-and-Mouth Precautions for Military Exercises in May 15Daily News). Lt. Cmdr. Joachim Stocksieker, the German naval officer in charge, said the inspections came as surprise to him. “We didn't expect this,” he told the Enterprise. “We don't understand why we have this problem here.” Frank said the inspections are part of the USDA's extraordinary precautions to keep foot-and-mouth disease out of the U.S. “Germany is considered suspect for foot-and-mouth disease, even though it had no actual cases,” Frank said. “Precautions are extraordinary because it's an extraordinary disease. “We cannot fathom what the impact on our economy would be. We're used to going to Kroger's or whatever and getting exactly what we want for the price we want. With foot-and-mouth, that would not be the case,” he said. “Trust me, you don't want to see it. This [inspections] minimizes the risk. The USDA and the state of Texas are doing everything we can to keep it out.” |
