The news of thousands of cattle, sheep and pigs being destroyed in the United Kingdom gives Coloradans some insight on how devastating a large outbreak of foot and mouth disease could be to the American farm and food industry, as well as to tourism and recreation industries. Among several risks to the United State's foot and mouth disease-free status are food items brought in by people returning from or visiting from a foreign country. A Colorado State University Cooperative Extension expert has some advice about how to keep foot and mouth disease out of the United States. Although humans rarely get sick from foot and mouth disease they can easily spread the virus that causes it.
Food carrying the virus, for example, is a common instigator of an outbreak.
Only under extremely rare conditions can humans catch foot and mouth disease, but they can mistakenly spread the disease very easily to animals through exposed food or on their clothing, shoes, vehicles, suitcases and other belongings. According to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the virus can remain in the human nasal passage for as long as 28 hours and be spread to animals in close contact. The transport of food across national boarders, even if it is just some cheese or fruit tucked in a suitcase, is regulated by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA regulations have been stepped up recently in light of the foot and mouth disease outbreak in Europe. Some USDA bans of food and livestock coming from Europe have been in place for sometime to protect American consumers from bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a much different livestock disease than foot and mouth.