tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-956701540737748712.post8592460995197598702..comments2024-03-15T09:14:51.456+02:00Comments on Medic Guide: Foot and Mouth Diseasejeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17353716090668341520noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-956701540737748712.post-984994487467510532007-08-25T10:43:00.000+02:002007-08-25T10:43:00.000+02:00Thanks for the email. The issue bothers me greatl...Thanks for the email. The issue bothers me greatly as well. I think the problem is that the disease is so infectious that trying to contain it without animal slaughter is too risky, as depressing as that sounds. The trick would be to identify and isolate the infected animals as quickly as possible so that the number required to slaughter is small. <BR/> <BR/>As for why it is England that keeps getting outbreaks, I'm really not sure. A few things come to mind though, and the first is that England has only had two outbreaks in the last forty years, so it might be a little too early to establish a trend. Secondly, the latter of the two outbreaks was in all probability caused by contamination from a nearby lab that was working on the virus. Whether this was accidental or an act of sabotage remains to be seen. <BR/> <BR/>You also ask whether outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease are appearing elsewhere in the world and just not being reported. Well, in countries like England, the country is thought to be disease-free. They also do not vaccinate, mainly for economic reasons (better access to the markets). Thus, when an outbreak happens, it seems to come from nowhere and spreads rapidly. FMD is endemic in areas of South America and Africa, however. Many of these countries vaccinate against the disease and so keep the infection down to a kind of grumbling low grade infection in the area.<BR/> <BR/><BR/>Anyone else care to offer an answer? (I'm a bit out of my depth here: it isn't really a human disease.)jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17353716090668341520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-956701540737748712.post-3479018483076669952007-08-25T10:41:00.000+02:002007-08-25T10:41:00.000+02:00Hi all,I got a question from Lorna about this topi...Hi all,<BR/><BR/>I got a question from Lorna about this topic. She asks:<BR/><BR/>I have been reading about and trying to understand the drastic reactions to outbreaks of this virus for some years. I cannot come to terms with the wholesale slaughter every time an outbreak occurs of all and any cloven hoofed animals in the vicinity.<BR/><BR/>Your blog info is comprehensive about the ability for the virus to spread over a wide area on the 'airwaves', but is there perhaps a way of creating an immunity by trying to isolate the affected animals and let the virus run its course and learn what they achieved internally/externally to get healed?<BR/><BR/>Is it a case that the loss and devastation to the farmers involved could also be just as much a financial burden in the long run to the economy? <BR/><BR/>Also, what is it with England that it keeps having these outbreaks? In New Zealand we never hear of any others. Are they happening elsewhere too and never reported?jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17353716090668341520noreply@blogger.com