NZ foot-and-mouth scare proves a hoax
A two-week-old scare over a deadly livestock disease on a small New Zealand island has proven to be no more than a hoax as police originally suspected, officials have said.
Someone wrote a letter to Prime Minister Helen Clark on May 9 saying that foot-and-mouth disease had been released on Waiheke Island near Auckland, and that it also would be released on one of New Zealand’s main islands unless a ransom was paid.
The letter also demanded a change in tax laws.
Veterinarians monitored livestock on Waiheke for signs of the disease, which takes up to two weeks to incubate. They found no symptoms among the island’s 18,000 sheep and 2,500 cattle.
Police continued their investigation, however, and Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton said he was confident the culprit in the hoax would be caught.
Sutton said the hoax cost taxpayers millions of dollars in government precautions.
