According to reports 70 animals were found with FMD in the town of San Luis del Palmar, about 960 km northeast of Buenos Aires. And since confirmation authorities have quarantined a 20 km area and ordered the slaughter of 3,000 animals in Corrientes.
The outbreak has also prompted Argentina�s neighbours to tighten border controls. Brazil and Chile have both suspended imports of Argentinean beef and Paraguay has banned the import of live animals and high-risk products.
Argentina is a member of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and shares borders with all the other members - Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile and Bolivia.
The strain of the virus is the same strain involved in Brazil�s recent outbreak, which was confirmed at the end of 2005 and resulted in 52 countries banning Brazilian beef.
Another Mercosur member, Uruguay, has just recently gained re-entry to the Mexico for its beef after it was banned in 2001 following an outbreak.
Argentina exports around 300,000 tonnes of beef annually to the European Union and Russia.
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