The United States has banned all meat imports from the European Union following the first confirmed case of foot-and-mouth disease in France.

It also announced that all EU meat imported since 21 February - when the livestock disease was discovered in the United Kingdom - would be quarantined. Canada announced similar restrictions. European governments have also rushed to step up their foot-and-mouth controls after France confirmed the disease had crossed the Channel from the UK. The outbreak - in a cattle herd in Mayenne, north-western France - is the first anywhere in mainland Europe. Within hours of the news, the European Union banned the exports of all live animals from France and neighbouring countries announced their own immediate clampdowns. Also on Tuesday, Argentina announced its first case of foot-and-mouth disease, putting its $200m to $250m agricultural export sector at risk. Under EU regulations announced last week, all movement of livestock is banned unless the animals are being taken directly to slaughterhouses or, with official permission, to other farms. The EU export ban applies to cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and other species at risk from the disease. The EU veterinary panel also banned the movement of all meat products, dairy products and other products from the affected species from the French regions of Mayenne and Orne.