EU leaders meeting in Stockholm at the weekend expressed concern for the plight of farmers affected by the foot-and-mouth crisis.
But they offered no prospect of extra EU funds to deal with the epidemic.
In their closing communique the leaders said: "The European Council expresses its concern about the severity of the situation in the agricultural sector and its solidarity with farmers and others in rural communities.
"It welcomes and stresses the importance of effective co-operation among national authorities and endorses the thorough measures being taken by the council, the Commission and the member-states.
"It is determined to contain and ultimately eradicate foot-and-mouth disease and BSE. What has occurred underlines the importance of having a food chain which is safe and sustainable in order to restore consumer confidence," it concluded.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands has confirmed a fifth case of foot-and-mouth disease, the Dutch Agriculture Ministry said yesterday.
The case was the second found in the town of Oene, in the east of the country, the Ministry said. It said 130 calves at the farm would be destroyed.
All five cases have so far been located close to each other, and Dutch authorities believe all can be traced back to animals imported from Ireland via the French department of Mayenne, the site of the first continental infection.
"It's still only around [the first infection site] and we hope it stays there," said a Dutch Agriculture Ministry spokeswoman, Ms Martine de Haan.
However, she said it was not clear how the animals in the latest case contracted the disease, since no imported animals had been brought there.
Results from tests on several other Dutch farms where foot-and-mouth is suspected are expected to be released today , Mr de Hann said.
The Netherlands reported its first outbreak on Wednesday.
French authorities said yesterday infected animals from the second confirmed outbreak site in France had no connection with the first, as was previously thought.
The second French incident was reported on Friday, crushing hopes it would shake off a ban on live animal exports.
"It was a consignment which came straight from Ireland," a source close to the investigation said, confirming the farmer's assertion that he had never dealt with English sheep, which investigators originally blamed for the second outbreak.
The French Agriculture Minister, Mr Jean Glavany, has called on France's farming industry to show more "public-spiritedness" with regard to the movement of animals.
"If we want to fight efficiently against foot-and-mouth we must show a total transparency in the movement of all animals which have come from the United Kingdom in the last two or three months," he told Radio Monte Carlo.
"Faced with a crisis like this, we need co-operation from everyone, state services, veterinary services, farmers, merchants. It is necessary for everyone to play their part," he said.
