The German authorities and meat and livestock sector are increasingly hopeful that the foot-and-mouth has been contained and this has had a positive impact on the market, according to a report by Reuters.
No further cases have been reported since the initial confirmation of disease in a small herd of buffalo near Berlin on January 10, although investigations have yet reveal the source of the outbreak. Some emergency measures to restrict the disease were lifted on Friday but quarantine zones remain in force, Reuters reports.
The German VZEG pig price dropped by 10 euro-cents last week, after the outbreak, the second successive fall of that magnitude at a difficult time for the market, anyway, but prices stabilised this week at €1.72/kg, as fears of a wider FMD epidemic eased, industry groups said on Wednesday.
The VEZG said the mood in the pigmeat market was tense but volumes on sale were sufficient to meet demand and prices were steady, the report said.
“The lack of new cases brings hope that the disease has been contained,” one meat trader said. “It also looks like German sales inside the EU will continue.”
The European Commission have confirmed that Germany’s efforts to stop the disease spreading would enable the regionalisation principle to be used, meaning livestock and meat products can be exported to other EU countries from parts of Germany where FM is not present.
However, import bans remain in place in some non-EU countries, including Great Britain, South Korea and Mexico.
It has also been reported that Brandenburg has applied to activate its FMD vaccine bank. The vaccine will be kept in stock in case it is needed in the event of a further spread of the disease or spread to other regions of Germany.
Several federal states established their own FMD vaccine bank for Germany years ago. The European Commission allows member states to use these vaccines as an additional disease control measure, subject to certain conditions, Agriland reports.