This morbid situation has many people worrying about a prospective outbreak in the United States, but Dr. Richard Wallace, a dairy extension veterinarian at the University, and several local farmers say an outbreak is unlikely because of the strict regulations in place. The disease is carried through excretion materials of infected animals and is extremely easy to transmit, Wallace said. This disease can affect any animal with cloven hooves like sheep, pigs, cattle and deer.
Severe cases can even result in loss of a hoof.
More than 200,000 animals have already been killed in Britain. Officials are planning the slaughter of healthy flocks within two miles of infected areas as a preventative measure to stop the possibility that the disease will spread further, which could result in the slaughter of more than a million animals. The disease is essentially harmless to humans and would produce symptoms similar to that of the common cold or flu, Wallace said. An effective treatment has yet to be developed for infected animals and the disease is somewhat difficult to detect, especially in the early stages, Wallace said. Since the last American outbreak was so long ago, it is hard for anyone to remember the disease, let alone the symptoms.