Foot and mouth disease has been eradicated in Europe, according to the
UN鈥檚 Food and Agriculture Organization.
The FAO intends to suspend its vaccination programme throughout Europe
and shift the buffer zone, which prevents the disease penetrating from the
east, from Thrace in Greece to Asia Minor.
Foot and mouth is a contagious viral disease which devastates livestock.
The last outbreak in any of the 28 countries in the FAO鈥檚 European section
was in July 1989.
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Britain鈥檚 last outbreak was on the Isle of Wight in 1981. The Ministry
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said the disease was carried by the wind
over the Channel from Brittany. The last major outbreak in Britain was in
1967-68.