Ecuador`s foot and mouth outbreak affects meat and dairy exports
Ecuador's meat and dairy exports have been affected after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the country.
The disease was first registered in a pig farm in the southern province of Azuay. According to the Cattle Farmers Association in Sierra and East Juan, the disease has greatly affected the country's milk exports. Peru has suspended import of 500,000 bottles of powder milk from Ecuador, while Colombia has stopped the import of cattle and pigs from the region.
Meanwhile, Ecuador's neighbouring country Bolivia, too, has reported a similar outbreak and suspended all permits to sell meat and milk products to neighbouring countries.
The outbreak, initially spotted in the town of Cuatro Canadas in Santa Cruz, is the first of its kind in the last three-and-a-half years. Bolivia is now working with neighbouring countries to contain the disease.