NationStates Jolt Archive

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Some may be aware that parts of the UK have recently been subject to a lot of attention in light of outbreaks of foot & mouth disease. The media have had a real field-day with this, and once again we see pictures of biohazard suits, burning cattle, and cordoned off streets.

Foot & mouth disease is not a danger to humans. It is very, very rarely caught by humans, it is not fatal to humans, and poses almost no risk to humans. The reason cattle are culled and burned, men in biohazard suits are called out, and whole towns are quarantined is because of how quickly the virus spreads in cattle, and how difficult it is to remove it from livestock once its out in the general population. It can be fatal to cattle, it causes suffering, and those that survive are left weak and unproductive. But, the most important bit is that it isn't harmful to humans. How many of you knew this?


We were talking about FMD the other night round the dinner table, and both my g/f and i were under the impression - because of the "OMG!11!!" way the media treats FMD, both this time and the outbreak in 2001 - that FMD was a serious risk to human health. like CJD/mad cow disease or something... i just wanted to know if other people were under this impression as well.

poll coming.

I think there's an few cases of that in PA.. with dogs?

*shrugs*


I'm rather apathetic.

I was only vaguely aware of its existence, does that count?

Well, the main reason it's big news isn't because any danger to humans. It's because of the major problems it brings for the agricultural sector, and the potential effects on the economy.

Well, the main reason it's big news isn't because any danger to humans. It's because of the major problems it brings for the agricultural sector, and the potential effects on the economy.

yes, but that - as far as i can see - isn't really what the news have been conveying. its all "danger!" and 'doom & gloom' and the like.

i haven't once heard on TV or the radio someone on the news saying "don't worry, its not harmful to humans"
if you don't already know that, you see pictures of burning cattle, biohazard suits, and think "OMG!"

well, my gf and i did.

Humans can get something like foot and mouth disease, only less... bovine. I don't know if you can get it by eating contaminated meat, though.

How many of you knew this?

I thought everyone knew that. How can one not know?

Meh.

I gots my all American buffalos for eatings.

Beef is for squares.

Humans can get something like foot and mouth disease, only less... bovine. I don't know if you can get it by eating contaminated meat, though.

If you're thinking about hand, foot and mouth disease (usually caused by coxackie virus) which mostly children get, it's unrelated to foot and mouth disease.

I thought everyone knew that. How can one not know?

what you sed!!!

I guess I just always assumed that it wasn't dangerous to humans and never heard something to the contrary. *shrugs*

Although, to be fair, I'm pretty sure it helps that in German the words used for "foot" and "mouth" in the disease's name are those used for the feet and mouths of animals, not humans.

I'd heard of it, but know nothing about it.

Although, to be fair, I'm pretty sure it helps that in German the words used for "foot" and "mouth" in the disease's name are those used for the feet and mouths of animals, not humans.

Same thing in Swedish: "Mul- och klövsjukan". For it to apply to humans, it would have to be called something like "mun- och fotsjukan", but that just sounds silly.

Same thing in Swedish: "Mul- och klövsjukan". For it to apply to humans, it would have to be called something like "mun- och fotsjukan", but that just sounds silly.

Once again, the two languages are remarkably similar. It's "Maul- und Klauenseuche" in German. It would have to be "Mund- und Fußseuche" for humans.

yes, but that - as far as i can see - isn't really what the news have been conveying. its all "danger!" and 'doom & gloom' and the like.

i haven't once heard on TV or the radio someone on the news saying "don't worry, its not harmful to humans"
if you don't already know that, you see pictures of burning cattle, biohazard suits, and think "OMG!"

well, my gf and i did.

They've mentioned it a few times when I've been watching the news. And they made it very clear in 2001, I guess they just assume most people can remember 6 years ago.

Once again, the two languages are remarkably similar. It's "Maul- und Klauenseuche" in German. It would have to be "Mund- und Fußseuche" for humans.
'Mond- en klauwzeer'.

I knew it, vaguely.

I thought this thread was gonna be about the phenomenon of people putting their feet in their mouths, which is a phrase I've never really understood. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!? ARE THEY SUCKING ON THEIR TOES?!? ARE THEY EATING THEIR TOEJAM?!?

yeh, my mum told me. she had to do all the foot and mouth quarantine precaution thingies in jersey during the lat outbreak.

They've mentioned it a few times when I've been watching the news. And they made it very clear in 2001, I guess they just assume most people can remember 6 years ago.
i was 15 six years ago... like i watched the news then :p

I guess I just always assumed that it wasn't dangerous to humans and never heard something to the contrary. *shrugs*
from the pictures in newspapers and the scaremongering, i assumed it was dangerous to humans and didn't hear anything to the contrary.

Although, to be fair, I'm pretty sure it helps that in German the words used for "foot" and "mouth" in the disease's name are those used for the feet and mouths of animals, not humans.

Same thing in Swedish: "Mul- och klövsjukan". For it to apply to humans, it would have to be called something like "mun- och fotsjukan", but that just sounds silly.

interesting...

Once again, the two languages are remarkably similar. It's "Maul- und Klauenseuche" in German. It would have to be "Mund- und Fußseuche" for humans.

Tell me about it. I went swimming earlier today and when I sat down in the sauna an entire contingent of German 16-17-year-olds and their teacher (by the the by, corpulent middle-aged men and speedos are abomination; when will people learn that speedos are only OK for athletic swimmers, type Greg Louganis? when?) came in, too. My head was killing me five minutes into their annoyingly understandable gibberish. The bastards even pretended not to speak English when the staff came to tell them trunks weren't allowed in the sauna. Do me a favour and spread some sauna etiquette in Germany, hmmkay? Nudity and reasonable silence are golden!

/End anecdote and off-topicness, just had to get my German story of the week (I seem to be a magnet for Germans here) out of me.

I knew. ;)

Oh yes, and I've never heard of this before.

i was 15 six years ago... like i watched the news then :p

I was 15 six years ago, too, and I watched the news :p

Shit. I was already older than you are now six years ago. http://www.studip.uni-goettingen.de/pictures/smile/opa.gif

(And yes, I watched the news when I was 15. :p)

I was 15 six years ago, too, and I watched the news :p

I'm exactly six years younger than you, and I get my news here. :p

I think I knew that it was only a threat to livestock. I can't recall ever having heard anyone state that, but the way it's reported, it's clear they're only concerned with the risk of transmission from livestock to livestock -hence the emphasis on washing boots but not hands, I guess I assumed it only affected cows.

I'm exactly six years younger than you, and I get my news here. :p

This is probably not the best place to be getting your news from :p

This is probably not the best place to be getting your news from :p

Meh, but it's cool when my parents go "Hey, did you hear about-" Yeah, two days ago, thanks. :p

and it usually filters out the celebrity stuff as much as is possible.

I'm exactly six years younger than you, and I get my news here. :p

Ha, me too. Well, and the radio, but only by accident. (Edit: And I'm not six years younger than Nadkor, either.)

I used to watch/read/etc. the news, but it's always the same old rubbish. They need some new plotlines or something.

Meh, but it's cool when my parents go "Hey, did you hear about-" Yeah, two days ago, thanks. :p

and it usually filters out the celebrity stuff as much as is possible.
Then tell your parents the news two days in advance! :p That ought to surprise them. :D

Then tell your parents the news two days in advance! :p That ought to surprise them. :D

:eek:
Place bets!

I knew foot and mouth wasn't easily transmitted between livestock and humans, partly via the media and partly through working on a farm during the 2001 outbreak. I also remember that it rarely, if ever, killed the livestock but rather reduced milk output, the ability to mate during infection, the ability to easily eat and general lameness. They were only culled because it's such a debilitating illness during the symptomatic period - thus wasting most muscle tissue and giving rise to crappy meat - and it's proper contagious, so culling was quicker and cheaper than vaccination. Good times back then, living in a farming community...

general lameness
:p <<

This is probably not the best place to be getting your news from :p

Of course it is!

But, the most important bit is that it isn't harmful to humans. How many of you knew this?

Let's say that the disease itself is not dangerous to humans, but the procedures taken to protect the cattle from catching it from some human who carried it near to them surely are. Damned precautions ruined a lot of my trip to the UK when it broke out that time - uh, six years ago?

And yeah, that I knew.

. Do me a favour and spread some sauna etiquette in Germany, hmmkay?

You mean, like, "Don't visit saunas, for they are the root of all evil and shall be killed slowly by no one using them anymore"?