But as of Friday, none had been confirmed. People are in such a panic that the government is considering breaking a taboo on use of soldiers near the border in order to enforce quarantine zones. The threat of the disease spreading, perhaps even sweeping the continent, has generated massive newspaper and television coverage, guaranteeing that just about everyone has had the opportunity to reconsider eating the dead flesh of other creatures. But when they see all these pictures in the newspapers or on television, they might think more about it. A lot of people are becoming vegetarians right now.
People are afraid of getting sick.
Fresh figures on meat consumption have not been released, but one survey found a 70 percent decrease in purchases of beef in Germany for the last five weeks of the year, and a 25 percent drop in sales of all meat for December compared to the year before. Not surprisingly, vegetarian restaurants are booming. Not only are they flooded with new visitors, they are being asked to provide tips on how to cook vegetarian meals to tempt any palate. Many people do not know how to prepare good vegetarian meals, so they will ask me. More people ask for information about vegetarian cooking, how to prepare things.