Sick cow sparks foot-and-mouth false alarm

RIGA - A rural community in northeastern Latvia was thrown into 24 hours of turmoil last week when a cow was reported sick with suspected foot-and-mouth disease.

On April 19 the animal was given a clean bill of health, but not before the national guard and the local fire service had sealed off an area with a three-kilometer radius around the farm where it lived, in Maliena district, near Aluksne, close to Latvia's borders with Estonia and Russia.

The cow, named Venta after the bountiful waters of a river in western Latvia, belonged to Andris Malnieks. Living with her calf, several sheep and some chickens in one shed, she was in fact suffering malnutrition, said Margers Kamerads, head of the district veterinary service.

Kamerads' wife Ausma, also a vet, fainted with anxiety as she awaited the laboratory test results, but she has now recovered.

Venta's diet had been unsuitable, consisting of hay, beets and water. She had not left her shed in nine months, and was weakened after giving birth recently.

Kamerads was careful to avoid criticizing the cow's owner, merely describing Venta's treatment as "inappropriate." He continued: "Malnieks had the opportunity to let his cow out for exercise, but that is his own business."

With a few exceptions, reaction to the drama was calm, said Diana Odumina, a journalist with the local newspaper Dzirkstele.

"About 50 people from the National Guard and the fire service were involved, sealing off six approach roads, in accordance with emergency procedures. But the relatives of the cow's owners were panicking; they thought something awful might happen."

Viktors Grapmanis, head of the Ministry of Agriculture's food and veterinary department, praised the response to the alert. "Everything was done correctly, following the veterinary service's instructions," he said.

The cow's plight drew the attention of international media with headlines echoing around Europe that the Baltic states' first case of foot-and-mouth may have been discovered.

Kamerads said local farmers are well informed about foot-and-mouth disease, if not fully equipped to deal with it.

"We don't have the disinfecting mats and equipment to deal with an outbreak here, but we held a meeting two weeks ago and sent out a newsletter. Farmers understand the disease pretty well. They know they have to report suspicious symptoms immediately, rather than waiting until the last moment."