MPR: Livestock Illnesses Just a Plane Ride Away

Livestock Illnesses Just a Plane Ride Away
By Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
March 26, 2001

The outbreak of two livestock diseases in Europe is heightening awareness in beef producers in the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has introduced stringent efforts to keep both foot-and-mouth disease and mad cow disease out of the country. But some experts say despite the precautions, it's possible the diseases will come to Minnesota at some point. In the new global economy, a virus is only a plane ride away.

Agriculture officials in Minnesota are preparing for the possibility that foot-and-mouth disease or mad cow disease could show up in Minnesota livestock. Possible steps include widespread quarantining of infected animals, setting up roadblocks to prevent the transport of infected animals, and canceling the Minnesota State Fair.
(Photo courtesy of the USDA)

THE UNITED STATES HASN'T RECORDED A CASE OF FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to keep it that way. It has banned livestock imports from infected countries. USDA officials are interviewing international passengers, including those arriving at the Twin Cities airport, to make sure they don't unknowingly walk into the U.S. with the virus on their clothing or shoes. USDA Port Director Gary Thomsen says since foot-and-mouth is highly contagious, the USDA will inspect luggage and sanitize shoes if a passenger spent time in a European countryside.

"It's made us a little more vigilant, with a little bit more heightened awareness. We'll be asking passengers whether they have food with them, any meat, whether they've been on a farm, whether they been in the countryside," says Thomsen.

These efforts aren't being taken to prevent U.S. citizens from an illness, but to ensure the safety of the nation's multi-billion dollar beef supply. The virus causes no harm to humans, yet it's making Minnesota's farmers sick with worry.

"The situation we've had is unprecedented. The situation in the 1920's was very different from the situation in 2001," says Ron Eustice of the Minnesota Beef Council.

GLOBAL MARKETS MAKE IT HARDER TO STOP DISEASES

Eustice says containing livestock diseases has become more difficult because the United States makes billions of dollars by exporting beef. Eustice says in the 1920's, the spread of foot-and-mouth disease could be prevented simply by quarantining livestock in a particular county. Now, an outbreak can disrupt the world's food supply. If the virus is detected in the United States, Eustice says other countries would close its doors to American livestock exports.

"We are the largest exporter of beef in the world - those markets would suddenly go away. We are a major exporter of pork - those markets would go away. It would be devastating to all of rural Minnesota and agriculture nationally," he says.

Eustice says his organization is asking beef suppliers to keep foreign visitors off the farm for at least five days after they enter the U.S. He also says farmers should disinfect their hair, clothing and shoes.

But some worry the precautions might not be adequate. Tom Hagerty is the executive director of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, and the state veterinarian. He says all it takes is for one person to walk on an infected British farm, get on a plane and then step foot on a U.S. farm.

One of the first reported cases of foot-and-mouth disease in Great Britain, in February of this year. The hooves of this pig developed blisters where the hoof meets the foot. In the later stages of the disease, the blisters burst and a secondary bacterial infection set in.
(Photo courtesy of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food)

"We have to take the position that this could happen today. Do I think it's going to happen? I think there are pretty good measures in place to prevent it. But the thing that worries me are the travelers, and travelers could bring it in," Hagerty says.

MINNESOTA PREPARES FOR POSSIBLE OUTBREAK

Even though he says a foot-and-mouth outbreak is not likely, Hagerty says the state is readying an emergency plan if it does. He says responses could include setting a 15-mile quarantine around infected livestock, setting up National Guard roadblocks, and even canceling the Minnesota State Fair.

"We'd have to take very drastic measures very early. We couldn't stand around and wait and see what was going to happen. We would have to move very quickly, as soon as a diagnosis is made. The diagnosis would be made within 48 hours of the time when we're first called in to see a sick animal," says Hagerty.

MAD COW DISEASE MAY ALREADY BE HERE

While the state prepares for the possible arrival of foot-and-mouth disease, others wonder whether mad cow disease is already here. Mad cow disease is responsible for some 94 deaths in Europe. Minnesota's former state epidemiologist, Michael Osterholm, says the virus may already be in some American cattle. Osterholm is founder and chair of ICAN Inc., an Internet provider of infectious disease information. He says cattle and animal feed infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy - widely known as mad cow disease - may have been imported during the late 1980s, when the mad cow crisis was only beginning in Europe.

"I really believe it's going to happen because we have had too many cracks over the last 10 years. It's here, and it will manifest itself sometime in the near future," he predicts.

Osterholm says it's more than likely that U.S. cattle ate the ground-up remains of cattle and sheep that was mixed into their feed. Scientists believe mad cow disease can only be transmitted when cows eat the remains of spinal cords, brains and nerves of other infected animals.

"In the late '80s and early '90s, when Great Britain had not yet banned the export of this product, they wouldn't use it internally. But they sent it out saying, 'Buyer beware. Don't use this in cattle, but if you use it in pigs and chickens this won't transmit to them.' In many areas of the world they bought that bonemeal product, and it ended up being fed to cattle," says Osterholm.

Travelers planning to visit Great Britain, Ireland, and other European countries should be aware of possible restrictions.

Links:

The Centers for Disease Control Travelers' Health site

The United Kingdom's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's foot-and-mouth disease site

The U.K.'s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's mad cow disease site

Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development
(Photo courtesy of Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development)

A spokeswoman for the USDA says the agency has banned the use of cattle and sheep remains in cattle feed, as well as the import of cattle. The agency is also closely monitoring any animals that were imported from Europe before the ban. In Minnesota, the agency is watching two Minnesota cows that were imported from Europe five years ago. She says the animals show no signs of the disease, but are being quarantined to make sure the cows aren't sold or slaughtered.

DISEASE IN HUMANS IS HARDER TO TRACK

While Osterholm thinks mad cow disease will occur in the U.S., he says the number of deaths so far suggest it won't become a major health problem. The physical effects of mad cow disease are closely related to another illness known as classic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or CJD, a rare brain disorder that occurs in one out of every million Americans. The symptoms are so similar, scientists call mad cow disease Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or VCJD.

Lawrence Schaumberger of the Centers for Disease Control says researchers know little about how the different diseases are transmitted, or how they occur. In the case of both CJD and VCJD, a protein attacks the brain, creating tiny spongelike holes. When someone gets the disease, they show signs of dementia and usually die within a year. There's no known treatment. Schaumberger is confident that no one has mad cow disease in the U.S, but is recommending steps to monitor the situation.

"We are strongly encouraging that patients and physicians arrange for autopsies of suspected and confirmed cases of CJD. We feel this would increase even more the sensitivity of surveillance," says Schaumberger.

But that didn't happen when Ted Fleener's wife, Judy, died from classic CJD in November of last year. The Minnetonka resident says it took physicians four months to diagnose the disease. He says the delay suggests the country's public health system isn't prepared to detect classic CJD, or the mad cow variant.

"If we don't start talking about it more openly, I think we can end up with a lot more people that have been literally killed by this then there needs to be," Fleener says.

Both mad cow and foot-and-mouth disease have forced the USDA to be vigilant when it comes to animal illnesses and animal imports. The Minnesota Beef Council says one case of either disease will cause consumer demand for beef to plummet, and that would disrupt the agriculture economy in Minnesota, and across the country.

	Sign up to receive e-mail newsletters

	Audio help

	Text: Sm : Md : Lg