The facts on foot and mouth disease

By Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 21, 2001

Americans scared about the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Europe should know it does not harm people.

However, if it spread to the United States, which has been free of the disease since 1929, the highly contagious disease would be a disaster for U.S. herds. Fewer cattle, hogs and sheep would mean fewer steaks, ham and lamb chops and less milk.

The United States has banned the importing of live animals from Britain and the European Union and some meat products (but not cooked pork) to protect livestock, not people. Inspectors fear that tainted meat served to humans might accidentally go into a food chain, eventually infecting animals.

Still, barely 1 percent of U.S. meat comes from Britain and the European Union, and much of that is cooked, canned and cured meats such as Danish ham and Italian prosciutto, which are not affected by the ban.

One item of fresh or frozen meat that Americans will see less of is Danish back ribs, but they account for only 5 percent of the pork ribs consumed in the United States.

The greater fear is that human travelers might bring the disease in. Although people do not normally get the disease, they can carry the virus on their body and clothes for days.

That means overseas travelers should be careful. The U.S. Department of Agriculture urges them to avoid farms and zoos during the five days before their return, wash clothes and disinfect shoes and luggage before returning, tell Customs of any farm visits and, once home in the United States, avoid farm and livestock areas for five days.

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