MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's veterinary watchdog has suspended imports of meat products from Britain as of August 6 due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the country, a news release said.
Last Friday, U.K. authorities declared a nationwide ban on the movement of livestock after the virus was discovered on a farm in Guilford, Surrey. Some 120 cattle have been culled since then. The European Union is set to ban all meat and livestock exports from the U.K. within 48 hours if the British government fails to convince the 27-nation bloc that it can contain the highly-contagious disease.
British authorities have established a 3km (1.9-mile) exclusion zone and a 10km (6-mile) surveillance zone round the farm as a precautionary measure.
In the country's last foot and mouth outbreak in 2001, more than six million cattle were culled. Damages were estimated at over 8 billion pounds (over $16 billion).
