Foot-and-mouth hits UK livestock…again

Over the weekend, my inbox was filled with news about the latest foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in the UK. And, like many food and ag bloggers who write about animal agriculture (including Ethicurean.com, a foodie favorite), I’m anxious to see how the British government responds. Some of you might recall that in 2001, the last time FMD spread in the UK, at least 6 million cattle were slaughtered and burned. But it wasn’t just animals that suffered. British agriculture and tourism experienced losses of US$16 billion, and hundreds of small and medium-sized livestock farms, as well as smaller-scale abattoirs (slaughterhouses) were also put out of commission.

Officials still aren’t sure how FMD spread this time. It appears that human error at a nearby animal research laboratory is to blame, though the Brits are still trying to find a conclusive answer.

But where it originated isn’t really the big question for me. Instead, I’m worrying whether the government will use this “opportunity” as an excuse to further centralize and industrialize animal raising in the UK. Here’s what’s bothering me: FMD is not like avian flu or some of the other more dangerous animal diseases that we hear about. Although it’s highly contagious, it doesn’t usually kill animals. It’s curable, and it very, very, very rarely affects people. Moreover, there are vaccines that can prevent it from developing among cattle in the first place.

Although we don’t see FMD in the United States, it is considered widespread in many regions of the world, including parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia. Until recently, most nations could control the disease and keep it within their borders. But with the scaling-up and concentration of beef production, things have changed. One reason a 1967 FMD outbreak in the United Kingdom didn’t spread nearly as widely or quickly as the one in 2001 is that animals didn’t travel as far between farms and slaughterhouses. Since the 1970s, however, the number of cattle abattoirs in England, Wales, and Scotland has declined dramatically, from nearly 2,000 in 1972 to some 277 in 2005, forcing producers to transport their animals farther.

Worldwide, some 44 million animals are transported across borders each year, and millions more are transported long distances by truck and rail within countries. In addition to animal welfare problems, this creates multiple opportunities for FMD and other diseases to spread. Localizing the raising, slaughtering, and processing of animals—and consumption of animal products—is likely to work better than whatever policy the British government comes up with to control FMD this time.