Not to downplay the economic havoc faced by the British (and now cntinental) livestock industry by this epidemic, but I’d still feel better if the governmental and public response to the problem were based more on facts than on what appears to be simple panic. I’d like to know some basic facts that haven’t made the news reports so far:
What does this virus do, besides create some ugly lesions? Is it true that only cows, sheep, and goats can get it, or are we humans at risk? Can it be killed by cooking (i.e. is all that meat still safe to eat, not that I’m volunteering)? Is all that wool wasted? Does anyone really know how it’s transmitted, and does closing off the entire British countryside to casual travel have any effect except to spread panic? And why is it foot-and-mouth over there, and hoof-and-mouth here?