New Zealand agriculture authorities and police launched an emergency response Tuesday following a letter sent to Prime Minister Helen Clark, stating that foot-and-mouth disease had been released on a small island near Auckland, the country's most populous city, local media reported Tuesday.

Senior Agriculture Ministry official Barry O'Neil was quoted as saying that the letter was "probably a hoax, but is being taken very seriously."

An outbreak of the cattle disease in New Zealand could devastate the country's agriculture-dependent economy.

Source: Xinhua