Foot and mouth?

Question

Why are all these cows being slaughtered when all thay have is a common cold that doesn't harm humans?

I'm sorry, I had no idea that the animals were suffering, the last time it happened with sheep I was told it was the same as a common cold.

Answer 1

Because humans are seflish ignorant morons, who do things like that to satisfy themselves in thinking that they've made a healthier inviorment. Also there's the possibility that letting them live is just spreading a virus that is difficult to cure, and there trying to avoid it from being given to the other cows like a plague when cows may be more sensitive to it then us. If we just leave it, it will spread, and thats not good.

Answer 2

Some countries in the world are foot-and-mouth disease free. The UK is one of these. In other countries, they vaccinate against the disease. While vaccination prevents the spread of the disease and keeps the animals healthy, the countries that vaccinate cannot export animal products to the countries that are disease free.

Slaughtering all the catle, sheep, pigs and other cloven hoofed animals is expensive and devastating for the farmers but it keeps the country disease free and that is worth a great deal more. Foot and Mouth is no respecter of blood lines and herds that have been developed over decades of selective breeding are lost overnight. You cannot even remove semen from the bulls before slaughter as semen carries the disease and you would infect any cow you used it on.

Answer 3

First, because it's not the same as a cold. It's a disease that can cause high fever and suffering to animals, and causes heart failure in a significant number of animals. The idea of culling say, a hundred animals, is that that wil prevent thousands of other animals becoming infected, as the disease is extremely contagious. From an animal welfare point of view, it all depends how much suffering we can prevent, which is of course impossible to measure, as those animals that don't get sick can't be counted!

The disease can pass to humans, and causes "malaise, fever, vomiting, red ulcerative lesions (surface-eroding damaged spots) of the oral tissues, and sometimes vesicular lesions (small blisters) of the skin." (Wiki), so eating infected meat is a pretty bad idea, as the virus can get to us. (Just as we don't eat mild food poisoning bugs, even if they aren't fatal to us)

There's also the economic reasons, that countries we trade with will not accept diseased livestock or meat products, so we have to eradicate it to sell our produce.
Very few farmers can afford not to sell any livestock for the year it takes all their animals to recover, so we cull affected beasts to stop all the farms in the area being wiped out.

The 2001 outbreak cost £8 billion to farmers and government, which means we have to pay to support them while they recover. The more the infection spreads, the more it costs.

In an ideal world, I agree, we would nurse the animals, keep them till they get better, and not eat meat in the meantime. But the disease is virtually impossible to contain without extreme measures, and as a country, we simply can't afford to support all our nations farms for six months to a year.

Answer 4

You are confusing two diseases with similar names. Foot and mouth disease found in cattle is sometimes deadly to humans and livestock as well. Though it rarely affects humans when it does jump the species barrier it can cause local epidemics and result in multiple deaths. They quarantine or slaughter the animals to prevent the spread of the disease to other farms where it would kill many of that farmers livestock, and to prevent it from jumping the barrier and getting into the human population.

The disease you are thinking of is Hand, foot and mouth disease which is found in humans and affects mainly small children. It is basically harmless.

I was confused to the first time my wife (she teaches pre school kids) came home and told me so and so had hand, foot and mouth disease. I was stunned and thinking there is no way they could get that. With me, from a rural background, it was the other way around. I thought man is that kid going to be sick and was wondering whose cattle would be getting quarantined.

Answer 5

Not sure we were asking the same thing in 2001 when my sisters animals were being used as target practise for novice soldiers en route to Iraq. It took forever too. It was awful.
I like that someone answered 'cos people are Seflish' though, made me think of us as some kind of jelly fish! Dont ask!

Answer 6

Although foot and mouth might manifest itself in humans as little more that a cold, in animals it's different and they effects are far more serious.

Check out this government website to find out more info:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/footandmouth/about/qanda.htm
Defra, UK - Animal health & welfare - Foot and Mouth Disease - About FMD - Commonly asked questions

Answer 7

May be the cryptic answer is food and money desease which is spread among humans and the cows are the victims when called beef.

Answer 8

Guess ya gotta , eat one and see.

Answer 9

I have no idea what you are talking about

but maybe you don't know the whole story

or

fear