UK farmers resume slaughterWith mad cow disease a big thing a few years ago and now this, it seems like they're making news way too often.
Thu Aug 9, 3:51 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Farmers in Britain resumed sending animals to slaughter on Thursday after a ban on the movement of livestock to prevent an outbreak of foot and mouth disease from spreading was lifted in most of the country.
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I don't think I would be having much of a craving for a cheeseburger if I traveled over there.
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2 comments:
Hello, D You can quote me on this one..
The Prime Minister did the right thing on clamping down and banning export etc when the Foot And Mouth was discovered. Really, it should continue, until eradicated. Of course precautions of washing boots in disinfectant helps, as does the washing of shoes on exiting the country, which is what I had to do when I was visiting the UK a few years ago, when there was an outbreak. I bet the PM's lifting of the ban had less to do with the fact that the threat is gone, and is more to do with the fact that he is getting pressure from the Farmers, factories, stores, etc to lift it now before too much money is lost. Mad cow disease is a pussy cat compaired to this..
Here is some info on the disease, you can still have your crapdonalds.
Q&A: Foot-and-mouth disease
February 26, 2001
Web posted at: 8:19 AM EST (1319 GMT)
What is foot and mouth disease?
An acute infectious viral disease causing blisters, fever and lameness in animals with hooves. Pregnant animals often abort and dairy cattle may dry up. It is rarely fatal, except in very young animals.
How does it spread?
Foot-and-mouth is a highly contagious virus spread by direct or indirect contact. It can travel many miles by air, in contaminated animal by-products and equipment, or through third-party contact. It takes between 24 hours and 10 days for symptoms to show.
Can humans get it?
Until a suspected case in Cumbria in April 2001, there had been only one recorded case of a human developing foot-and-mouth disease in Britain -- this was in 1966 with very mild symptoms. It mainly affects cattle, sheep, pigs and goats with elephants, rats and hedgehogs also susceptible.
What can be done?
Heat, sunlight and disinfectants destroy the virus. There is a vaccine but its use is against EU policy. Currently infected herds must be destroyed and affected areas isolated.
Why such drastic action?
Foot-and-mouth disease is mainly an economic rather than safety issue. There is no known cure and a widespread outbreak could cause massive production losses.
Which other countries suffer it?
The last major foot-and-mouth outbreak in Europe was in Greece in 2000. The disease is endemic in parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America with sporadic outbreaks elsewhere.
Info taken from:
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/UK/02/21/foot.mouth/index.html
Interesting that sun kills the virus. Since there isn't near as much sun in the UK as here, I can see how it could propagate more.
It used to be a threat to cattlemen in the U.S. too, but I haven't heard of any issues since my teacher talked about how they used to have to deal with it as kids growing up on the farm.
But I still don't want no crapdonalds. I prefer real burgers. ;)
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