3/15    If Foot-and-Mouth disease doesn't affect human being, what's bad about
        eating meat from livestocks that are infected with the disease?  I mean
        why is the outbreak as big of a deal as mad-cow disease?
        \_ meat is murder! or something and stuff...
        \_ anything done in Europe is defined to be more advanced than what
           happens in the US.  This must be their way of making a new flavor
           of meat or something.
        \_ Probably just bad for certain industries...on the news, they say
           the disease makes cows not want to eat
           as much, hence less milk and less bulky meat...
        \_ You mean foot-and-mouth.. btw, what's the difference between
           foot-and-mouth and hoof-and-mouth?
           \_ Ooops.  Corrected now.
           \_ According to /csua/bin/webster, foot-and-mouth and
              hoof-and-mouth are the same disease.
        \_ isn't trench-mouth or whatever from WWI the same thing in humans?
        \_ The real answer to your question is that it kills the animals.  In
           humans, it is annoying but not fatal.  And no, you can't drag the
           diseased carcasses from the fields where they dropped to the
           slaughter house.
           \_ What effects does eating foot-and-mouth-diseased meat have
              on humans? (just out of morbid curiosity)  -!original poster
                \_ Fever and a low chance of some blisters/sores for a few
                   days.
        \_ The big problem is more economic.  The affected animals won't
           eat because of painful mouth sores and lose weight to the point
           where they are unsellable.  Also, the disease is highly contagious,
           and is transmitted through the air, liquid, food, soil, your shoes,
           just about anything, and can survive for extended periods outside
           of a host.  So it has profound effects on trade, commerce, even
           tourism and travel.
           \_ If it can be transmitted in so many ways, how have they been
              keeping it under control all these decades until now?
              \_ Quarantine used to be the solution, but that isn't feasible
                 with the large herds of today. Thus the slaughtering and
                 burning of carcasses. Hoof-and-mouth for cloven foot animals
                 would be equal to a deadly form of the common cold for humans.
                 Even if the animals survive one bout, a mutated version may
                 come back and you lose more animals, and then it may mutate
                 again and so on. You need to break the cycle or else.
                 \_ Can you reference this statement? In my research,
                    I have not come across this "mutate again ..."
                    theory before. Thanks. -ausman