foot and mouth

[theloggg]

Has anyone's restaurant seen the effects of foot-and-mouth disease?

The quote from Reuters News was "..has now spread to livestock in parts of the Middle East and threatens to cripple Europe's meat industry."

What's scary about finding F&M in Saudi Arabia is that it infects camels as well as sheep.

What is scary about F&M appearing in the U.S. is that it could infect the entire U.S. fairly quickly if for no other reason than the large amount of deer we have in this country. I would almost be impossible to stop. I hate to even think about it. I could potentially harm all of our wild hoofed animals...deer, moose, elk, sheep, goats, etc. I think we should do everything we can to stop it from coming here.

Hopefully, the rest of the world will get this thing contained before too long. I certainly feel for the Brits and the rest of Europe.

[kokopuffs]

FYI

http://hoshi.cic.sfu.ca/epix/topics/animal/f_m_d.htm


Foot and Mouth Disease

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is an acute, highly contagious picornavirus infection of cloven hooved animals.The virus (FMDV) is sensitive to environmental influences, such as pH less than 5, sunlight and dessication, however it can survive for long period of time at freezing temperatures.
FMD is present in many countries of the world, except for North and Central America (north of Panama), Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and Scandinavia. The European Union (EU) countries are generally free of FMD. FMD was last reported in 1929 in the U.S.A., 1952 in Canada, and 1954 in Mexico.
The disease is highly contagious and may spread over great distances with movement of infected or contaminated animals, products, objects, and people. Pigs are mainly infected by ingesting infected food. Waste feeding has been associated with outbreaks. Cattle are mainly infected by inhalation, often from pigs, which excrete large amounts of virus by respiratory aerosols and are considered highly important in disease spread. Large amounts of virus are excreted by infected animals before clinical signs are evident, and winds may spread the virus over long distances.
People can be infected through skin wounds or the oral mucosa by handling diseased stock, the virus in the laboratory, or by drinking infected milk, but not by eating meat from infected animals. The human infection is temporary and mild. FMD is not considered a public health problem.
The incubation period is 2-21 days (average 3-8) although virus is shed before clinical signs develop. The rate of infection (morbity) can reach 100%, however mortality can range from 5% (adults) to 75% (suckling pigs and sheep). Recovered cattle may be carriers for 18 to 24 months; sheep for 1 to 2 months. Pigs are not carriers.
Clinical signs in cattle are salivation, depression, anorexia and lameness caused by the presence or painful vesicles (blisters) in the skin of the lips, tongue, gums, nostrils, coronary bands, interdigital spaces and teats. Fever and decreased milk production usually precede the appearance of vesicles. The vesicles rupture, leaving large denuded areas which may become secondarily infected. In pigs, sheep and goats the clinical signs are similar but milder. Lameness is the predominant sign.
Because of the range of species affected, the high rate of infectivity, and the fact that virus is shed before clinical signs occur, FMD is one of the most feared reportable disease in North America. An outbreak of FMD would, (and has in the past) cost millions of dollars in lost production, loss of export markets, and loss of animals during eradication of the disease. The significance of many other reportable diseases is due to their resemblence to FMD and the importance of distinguishing between them at the earliest indications of an unusual disease outbreak.
Compiled from "Foot-and-Mouth Disease Strategy" Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, November 1994.
Return to Foreign Animal Disease Page <fad_sfu.htm>

References:
Surveillance: Special Issue - Exotic Diseases, Vol 23, 1996
MAF Regulatory Authority, Ministry of Agriculture
P.O. Box 2526, Wellington, New Zealand
Poultry Diseases, Fourth Edition
Jordon, F.T.W. and Pattison, M., Editors
W.B. Saunders Company Ltd., London, 1996 , ISBN 0-7020-1912-7
Notifiable Diseases: Special Issue of the State Veterinary Journal,
Vol. 5 No. 3, October 1995
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, United Kingdom ISSN:0269 5545
Exotic Diseases of Animals: A Field Guide for Australian Veterinarians
Geering, W.A., Forman, A.J. and Nunn, M.J.
Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1995, ISBN 0 644 33513 0
Avian Disease Manual, Third Edition
Whiteman, C.E. and Bickford, A.A.
American Association of Avian Pathologists
Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company,Dubuque, Iowa, ISBN 0-8403-5795-8
The Merck Veterinary Manual, 6th Edition, Editor: Fraser, C.M.
Merck & Co., Inc, Rahway, N.J., U.S.A., 1986, ISBN 911910-53-0
Veterinary Medicine - Eighth Edition
Radositis, O.M., Blood, D.C., and Gay, C.C.
Balliere Tindal, London, U.K., 1994, ISBN 0 7020 1592 X

[shroomgirl]

Yesterday NPR OR PRI ran a talk with a Welsh dairy farmer whose herd (prize, breed for 3 farmer generations) had hoof and mouth.

228 cattle shot. The graphic description of what occurs hit home. When she was describing the fact that her 10 year old daughter knew them all by name. That they had one that was like a pet...
These animals were an intrinsic part of their lives.
I cried driving down the road listening to this woman describe the horrific trauma to her dairy farm and family. They have always farmed...now they will need to do something else because their land needs a rest after hoof and mouth. As she described her intelligent 50 year old husband that is a brilliant person, but on paper is a manual laborer, I shuddered...this hits too close to home. My farmers are bright usually having many skills but choosing to work the land out of passion, why else would they do it...certainly not $. How do you put on paper the fact that they have a system on their farm, animals, plants, nature working in harmony...the way they plan and plant to produce beautiful products. The way they pasture their animals so that they maintain health.

I'm choking up now, this is so sad.

[kokopuffs]

Hey Shroomgirl:

Ever watch the movie, "HUD", starring Paul Newman?

[ March 16, 2001: Message edited by: kokopuffs ]

[shroomgirl]

mucho years ago, I've little to no memory of it, I'll try to find it next time I'm in the rental stores. Must have been mid sixities huh?

[kokopuffs]

Mid 60's yes. But near the end of the film the rancher euthanized an pair of his prized longhorns due to F&M, as I faintly recall.

[Nicko]

Wow this is scary stuff. It really seems inevitable that it will eventually make it's way to the United States don't you think?

[Anneke]

We had it up in Saskachewan several decades ago. Though devastating for the province, it was successfully contained. I think proper precautions have been taken here. Hopefully this thing will blow over quickly. Cow heaven must be getting a little crowded...

[Papa]

Dear Friends:

A few months ago, I read that the "Mad Cow Disease" already exists in North America. They have found many elk and deer herds in Montana that are affected by this disease.

I hope that "Foot and Mouth" does not make it to the States. I watch BBC and France 2 news every morning and the devastation of the European farmers is hard to watch. These people have been perfecting their animals for generations only to see their efforts going up in smoke (literally).

We can only hope.

[Isa]

With all those problems with meat I am seriously considering becoming vegetarian.

[coolJ]

have either Mad Cow or Hoof & Mouth hit the USA or CANADA ?

[Pooh]

We closed our boarders this week to all raw-milk cheeses. You should have seen the crowd at my favorite cheese shop, stocking up on their favorites!

I suppose importation of meat is banned as well!

Iza: you can still eat poultry!

Scary stuff...

[Pete]

What is the effect on humans, if any, if they consume an animal infected with FMD?

[theloggg]

I just noticed I called it "foot-and-mouth" when it is actually "hoof-and-mouth". I was probably thinking of "foot-in-mouth", something I caught years ago.