UK sheep suspected in French foot and mouth tests
Sheep exported to France from Britian may have had foot and mouth disease.
France's Agriculture Minister says that tests carried on sheep slaughtered within the last two days were positive.
Jean Glavany said the tests "show that these animals were in contact with the malady but were not necessarily carriers of the malady".
He said nine herds were involved in the testing, including three in the Oise region just north of Paris and one in Seine-Saint-Denis.
Three herds in the Cher region in central France have also been tested.
France last week began destroying 50,000 sheep imported from Britain as a precautionary measure
A farm near Saint-Etienne, in south east France, was placed under quarantine on Saturday after a herd of sheep imported from Britain tested positive.
From tomorrow France is banning animal markets and other events where animals gather to protect against a potential outbreak of the disease.
Some regions in northern France, near the border with Belgium - where there are suspicions of a contaminated pig farm - banned the transport of animals over the weekend.
France is also setting up a post on the border with Luxembourg for trucks carrying animals not susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease to disinfect before entering France.
