Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have international airports where travelers arrive directly from abroad. Passengers on incoming flights are now being warned about carrying potentially contaminated items, especially if they've visited rural areas in Europe. Customs agents, aided by sniffing beagles, are searching for food or other contraband. Shoes of travelers who may have trampled on diseased ground are being bleached on arrival. Yet federal officials still worry that someone somehow will introduce the virus to the United States.
Vaccinated animals can become unsymptomatic carriers if exposed to the virus.
Any animal that tests positive would be immediately destroyed, as would any animal likely to have come in contact with it. Nearby farm equipment and structures would be decontaminated. Great Britain has slaughtered nearly a half million animals so far, with another half million to go. The carcasses are burned and buried. But rats, hedgehogs and deer are.