Argentina Suffers Foot-and-Mouth

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP)--Less than a year ago, Argentine beef was sizzling. Posh New York restaurants highlighted the fork-tender meat on their menus. Praise poured in from London and Chicago. An ambitious campaign urged the world to ``eat Argentine beef.''

This week, countries around the world shut their doors to Argentine beef after officials confirmed an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease among Argentine herds. Authorities have identified at least three infected sites, all on the famed Pampas.

Suddenly the proud cattle-ranching country finds itself struggling to prove what virtually all Argentines consider to be fact, that their country's meat is among the world's best.

``There's no other way to describe it--this is a complete disaster,'' said Victor Tonelli, president of Carne Hereford, a leading beef exporter. ``I can't think of a worse time for this to happen.''

Argentine ranchers and meatpackers had hoped business was finally stabilizing after a foot-and-mouth scare last year, when a handful of cows in a remote northern province were identified as having the virus.

That prompted a ban on Argentine beef by the United States, one of the country's biggest export markets, along with the European Union. The ban was lifted in December, just as worries of mad cow disease swept Europe.

With the latest foot-and-mouth outbreak, only two countries are importing Argentine meat: Israel and Russia. Analysts say Argentina's cattle industry could lose as much as $500 million this year--a devastating blow to one of the country's economic cornerstones, coming at a time when the economy is mired in a 32-month recession.

But the news of the outbreak strikes much deeper than the economy. For nearly 100 years, until 1970, Argentina's grass-fed, free-range cattle helped it dominate the world's beef market. During the 1930s and 1940s, beef sales helped catapult Argentina among the world's 10 wealthiest countries.

For Argentina, beef is a matter of national pride.

``It's one of three Argentine icons,'' said Tonelli. ``Wherever you go in the world, if you say Argentina, it invokes three things: Diego Maradona, tango, and beef. So we've got to do something about this--and fast.''

Argentine officials say they do not intended to carry out a mass slaughter of infected animals, as in England and France, calling the step too costly and unnecessary.

However, Patricio Lamarca, an Argentine agricultural expert, said Argentina may have no choice. At some point ``they will have to take measures along the same lines,'' she said, calling the situation ``serious.''

``They will have to create some areas where they stop all transportation (of animals), just like in Europe.''

Some Argentine beef exporters have derided the European Union for its decision to ban imports of meat and livestock from Argentina, arguing that European countries have imported Argentine beef for years knowing the country was not free of foot-and-mouth.

``They've bought meat from Argentina for 40 years as a foot-and-mouth disease-infected country,'' said Miguel Schiaritti, the director of the Argentine Meat Industry Chamber.

Argentina was officially declared foot-and-mouth free for the first time last May. The outbreaks are the first reported since 1994.

But unlike worried consumers in Europe, many Argentines said they have no plans to relinquish their beef-eating habits, which make them among the world's top carnivores: they eat an average 120 pounds of meat each year.

``With or without foot-and-mouth, I've been eating beef for years,'' said Gustavo Sanguinetti, as he sat down to a dinner of rib eye steak, cooked intestines, and chorizo sausage at a local steakhouse. ``I'm certainly not going to stop now.''

Farmers and beef exporters said they hoped the latest outbreak will finally force the government to better regulate its meat products. Tonelli, the beef exporter, said Argentina had no choice when one of the country's cherished industries is at stake.

``Meat is what we do best,'' he said. ``What else are we going to do? Export computers? No way. This is Argentina.''