What would happen to Vermont agriculture if a highly contagious animal disease, such as foot and mouth disease (FMD), was found in the state, or even in New York or Quebec? What would happen to the tourism industry in Vermont?
The likely answer is not encouraging. I recently attended a presentation by Dr. Julie Smith of UVM Extension and Dr. Steve Van Wie about the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in England in 2001. That event was disastrous for England: more than 6 million livestock were killed; the estimated cost to agriculture and tourism was in excess of $16 billion; and more than 60 farmers committed suicide. Nearby Ireland and Scotland suffered agricultural and tourism losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Could it happen here? The United States has been free of FMD since 1929. But in today’s mobile world, the risks are high. England had been free of FMD, too. It is thought that England’s 2001 outbreak was caused by feeding pigs with imported food waste that was infected with the FMD virus.
Drs. Smith and Van Wie are presently involved in a project to improve the capacity of Vermont agriculture to survive a bio-disaster. Expect to hear more about this.
In the meantime, education is always good. If you know something about a risk, you can be thinking about how to deal with it. In addition to the links above, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has a good web site about foot and mouth disease.
