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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Agriculture authorities and police rushed to a small island near New Zealand's most populous city Tuesday after Prime Minister Helen Clark received a letter claiming foot-and-mouth disease had been spread among the island's thousands of livestock.
Senior Agriculture Ministry official Barry O'Neil said the letter was "probably a hoax, but is being taken very seriously." An outbreak of the livestock disease in New Zealand could devastate the country's agriculture-dependent economy.
A threatening letter delivered to Prime Minister Helen Clark's office Tuesday said a vial of foot-and-mouth disease was released Monday among stock on Waiheke Island, a small farming community near the northern city of Auckland. Police said a ransom demand was included in the letter along with a demand for a change in the nation's taxation policy.
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