In February 2001 outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth-Disease were confirmed in Great Britain; in response the USDA banned all shipments of raw meat products from anywhere in Europe.  Ten weeks later they loosened this ban to allow imports from countries where no confirmed cases had occurred:  during the interim, Denmark’s pork farmers lost an estimated $40 million.  Despite the slaughter of an estimated one in eight of England’s farm animals, the ban on imports of British meat continues.  Since 1929 America has been free of Foot-and-Mouth Disease and, like most other FMD-free countries, it takes great pains to remain that way.

All this concern may seem misplaced at first glance, since Foot-and-Mouth Disease is only rarely fatal.  An animal with FMD frequently slobbers and smacks its lips; an examination will show blisters on its mouth and snout, and frequently on its hooves (hence the name).  While FMD may be fatal to younger animals, most adult animals will recover within 8-15 days, although many will suffer from heart damage or decreased milk production.  What makes Foot and Mouth Disease so fearsome is the speed at which it spreads.  An infected animal can shed viruses for days before any symptoms appear, transmitting the illness to the entire herd.  The Apthovirus (the cause of FMD) is found in breath, saliva, feces, urine, milk and semen of infected animals as well as meat and by-products.  Transmission of the virus may occur when susceptible animals come into direct contact with infected animals through people wearing contaminated clothing or foot wear, contaminated vehicles or livestock facilities, consumption of infected meat or animal products, contaminated drinking water or feed, or insemination with material from an infected sire.  While disinfecting clothing and gear provides some relief, humans who have been exposed to FMD can carry the virus in their nasal passages for up to 48 hours, thereby exposing other animals.  There are even reports of the virus becoming airborne, with infections occurring as much as 40 miles from the original site of contamination. 

If confirmed cases of foot and mouth disease were to occur in the United States, all animals on those farms, and any animals with which they had come in contact, would be slaughtered and their corpses burned.  A rigid quarantine would be enacted on the areas around the outbreak; all gear, clothing and surfaces in the area would be sterilized or destroyed.  These procedures would be enormously expensive: by some accounts, the 2001 FMD outbreak in England cost over $3 billion.  A 2001 simulation of a foot and mouth outbreak in one small south Texas swine herd suggested that within four days FMD would have spread to 15 Texas counties and Mexico, despite the best state and federal efforts at containment. 

As with other agricultural attacks, there would also be an enormous impact on U.S. exports, as FMD-free countries closed their doors to American meats.  The cattle industry, already reeling from mad cow disease and declining consumption of red meat, would be hard-pressed to deal with a crisis of this scope.  On March 12, 2002, false rumors of a possible FMD outbreak in Kansas hit the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where livestock futures contracts are traded.  In the ensuing panic, prices for cattle dropped $1.50 per hundredweight; it is estimated the false rumor cost the cattle industry as much as $50 million.  The effects a real FMD outbreak would have on cattle and pork futures is difficult to imagine.