Tracking Business Around the World

Contagious cattle disease found in England

LONDON-- British ranchers were banned from transporting cattle Saturday in an effort to contain an outbreak of the devastating foot-and-mouth disease.

An estimated 60 cases of the highly contagious disease were confirmed in cattle on a farm outside the village of Wanborough near Guildford in Surrey, the BBC News reported Saturday.

"Speed is of the essence here" to stop the virus from spreading, said Hugh Pennington, a microbiologist at Aberdeen University.

It's the first outbreak of foot-and-mouth since 2001 when between 6.5 million and 10 million animals were killed to contain the disease, which caused an estimated $17 billion losses for British agriculture and tourism.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown canceled his vacation and returned to London for meetings on the potential crisis Saturday.

Foot-and-mouth disease rarely affects humans and is so mild when it does, medical treatment is not needed.


British Airways worst for losing luggage

LONDON-- After losing more luggage than any other European airline, British Airways reportedly sought to keep its dubious No. 1 ranking under wraps.

BA lost one bag for every 36 passengers in April, May and June -- nearly double the European industry average of one lost bag for every 63 passengers, an Association of European Airlines, AEA, survey said.

British Airways asked the AEA not to make the data public out of fear it would hurt business, The Times of London reported Saturday.

The Times said BA had so many lost bags piled at London's Heathrow Airport, it rented a fleet of trucks to haul the luggage to Italy for sorting. Some passengers said it took more than a month to get their belongings returned.

The AEA report also said nearly a third of British Airways' flights departed later than scheduled. Only three airlines scored lower than BA in that category -- and they were much smaller, The Times said.


Ford recalls another 3.6 million vehicles

DETROIT-- U.S. automaker Ford has expanded its cruise control recall by 3.6 million vehicles -- the largest recall for a single vehicle problem in U.S. history.

Ford is recalling a total 10.4 million vehicles to fix a cruise control switch that has caused several fires, The Detroit News reported Saturday.

Not every Ford vehicle with the switch has been recalled, said Sean Kane of Safety Research and Strategy, an advocacy group based in Massachusetts.

The latest recall involves more than a dozen types of cars, trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles made between 1991 and 2004, including the Ford F-150, Mercury Mountaineer and Lincoln Town Car.

Friday's announcement comes as Ford tries to improve its image among consumers and return a profit to its North American business.


Maruha firm shipped expired tuna

TOKYO-- A Japanese food distributor has apologized on his company's Web site for knowingly using expired tuna in consumer products.

Hokushu Shokuhin Co. President Akihiko Tsutsui said he knew in January 2007 his Maruha Corp. company was distributing tuna that expired in July 2006, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported Saturday.

Tsutsui did not halt tuna shipments or inform customers their food may be tainted and the products were sold at sushi restaurants and grocery stores until March.

In June, the company notified government authorities and Hokushu Shokuhin issued a voluntary recall but most of the food had been consumed by then, the newspaper said.

"As president, I deeply regret that it took us so long to deal with the problem," Tsutsui said in a statement on his company's Web site.