Foot-and-mouth disease threat

SOFIA, (AP):

Bulgarian government officials say some 350 farm animals were slaughtered at a village close to the southern border with Turkey, as a precaution following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

Health and agriculture officials yesterday said the contagious disease had been detected in a routine check in the village of Bliznak, some 10 kilometres from the border.

The government said it will pay compensation to farmers whose animals had to be destroyed after the fifth outbreak of the disease in the country's southeast in less than three weeks. It is believed to have been carried into Bulgaria from Turkey by wild animals.

Last week, the government announced it was going to erect fences along the border to prevent wild animals from trespassing into Bulgaria.