Shamelessly stolen from Timebomb board. So, I left the poster's comments....

Don't know if giving a link for this article will work its a password site: Cutting Edge

Abby ******************************************************* Title: STATE LEGISLATURE TAKES AWAY FOURTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS IN ORDER TO "PROTECT" AGAINST FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE!

Subtitle: To "protect" against a mild animal disease in which most of the animals recover, and is no health threat to humans, the North Carolina legislature takes away its citizen's Fourth Amendment rights!

THE CUTTING EDGE

NEWS BRIEF: "State legislature to allow searching of cars, people without warrants: NC bureaucrats given authority to kill animals without owner's consent, Constitution suspended", by Clint Parker, Asheville Tribune, April 12, 2001.

"A North Carolina bill that would allow a search of individuals or vehicles on public or private roads by the state veterinarian or an authorized representative, without a warrant, has now become law. The bill, S.799, was enacted because of the threat of foot-and-mouth disease and any other contagious animal disease ... However, the bill also states that the state veterinarian does not even need to have a reasonable suspicion that the person or vehicle is carrying a diseased animal. He can stop persons or vehicles to determine whether they are carrying a diseased animal."

This type of legislative action is the worst-case nightmare of those American citizens concerned about the plans for government to seize absolute control. We can only hope and pray that North Carolina citizens will rise up as one to demand the repeal of this law, or that the North Carolina State or the Supreme Court will intervene to overturn it. In fact, this action might just be a trial balloon designed to see how the good citizens of North Carolina will react to having their Constitutional rights taken away.

Let us review those violated rights now:

U.S. Constitution -- Amendment IV

"Right of search and seizure regulated.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

American citizens have always been protected against police or any other authority searching property without "probable cause" or against "unreasonable searches and seizures." One of the mainstays of the maintenance of a police state is unreasonable search and seizure, and the authority to stop anyone for any reason, anywhere in the country for an immediate search. This type of authority terrifies the citizens and makes it very difficult for dissident groups to operate.

Therefore, our Founding Fathers wisely included an iron-clad protection against just such an activity. If we are as close to the End of the Age as we think we are, then authorities must be contemplating exactly how they can seize this type of control amongst a population who has never known such police state tactics. We have always stated that a combined scenario of wars overseas, terrorism in our major cities, domestic turmoil, and economic collapse has been planned to so panic the people that they will allow their freedoms to be taken away in exchange for Peace and Safety. One of our Founding Fathers stated that "those people who would give up their freedoms in exchange for peace and safety deserve neither peace nor safety".

Let us go back to this article to see how one North Carolina senator feels about this bill denying Constitutional protection for the good citizens of his state.

"State Senator Charles Albertson (D-5th), who sponsored the bill, when asked if he had a problem with the constitutionality of the law, told the Asheville Tribune 'No, I don't. In this case I think it's warranted and justified. If you think there are animals that's moving through the country side, or any means of conveyance this virus could travel on, you can't wait to go get a court order before you need to take action, Albertson stated. This is a serious threat to animal agriculture, to the economy of this state, and you have to take, I think, extra ordinary measures to make sure you do everything to prevent it'."

"Asked if he thought that the threat was serious enough to suspend the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Albertson said, 'Yes, I do. There is a great public concern here'. Asked if it was more important for the people to be secure than for them to have rights, Albertson said, 'I think, in this case, it may be justified'."

If this statement is allowed to stand in the public perception, and if courts allow the provisions of this bill to be carried out, Americans everywhere stand in great peril for their continued Constitutional rights, privileges, and protections. If the Constitution can be trampled in Amendment IV, any other part of it can be trampled with impunity. If the American people do not rise up as one to demand the repeal of this law, then the Illuminist government of our country will get the strong and clear message that we Americans can be docile enough to trade our Liberties for what they perceive to be "Peace and Safety"..

This bill does not yet provide that authorities can enter private property with the same impunity as North Carolina authorities can now stop vehicles and citizens at will on public and private roads. However, when this planned panic really hits hard, and if the courts allow the provision of this bill to stand, nothing will stand in the way of an emergency decree that will expand the provisions of this bill to entering private property without "probable cause". This bill sets a precedent that can easily be expanded outward rapidly. Giving authorities the authority to carry out this unconstitutional search and seizure on private roads may be a sneaky way in which to invade private property, since most private property is abounded by either public or private roads. North Carolina authorities can now come right up to the edge of private property in force now as the result of this terrible law.

Further, if officials in the other 50 states are awaiting in the wings to copy their North Carolina brethren, freedom in this country might be soon gone, especially if the courts are awaiting to refuse to strike down these laws.

ARE AMERICAN OFFICIALS PREPARING US FOR AN "OUTBREAK" OF FMD?

Consider this NEWS Brief: "Foot-and-Mouth 'probable' in U.S.", by Jim Drinkard, USA Today, 4/17/2001.

"WASHINGTON — Federal emergency officials are preparing for a U.S. outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, a prospect they see as highly likely. About 75 federal officials from agencies ranging from the Agriculture Department to the CIA met Wednesday to review plans for addressing an outbreak of the highly infectious animal virus. The group also included officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Army's biological warfare office, the Coast Guard, the Interior Department and the Food and Drug Administration."

This title should read "Foot-and-Mouth planned in U.S." As we have stated in earlier articles, all this hoopla is over a disease from which the great majority of animals recover on their own, and it is not transmissible to human beings, either in the air or by eating meat from the infected animal. But, British officials have succeeded in so frightening the public over this non-threatening disease that travel in the British Isles is severely limited, and people are afraid to eat the meat. Further, entire British farms and farming industries are being virtually wiped out overnight.

The facts surrounding this issue suggest that, since common sense makes no sense, we must seek other sense. Given the progress of the planned events of the New World Order from the Middle East to the shaky financial markets, we feel safe in assuming that this ridiculous manufactured crisis is planned to further spread the sense of panic throughout America. Surely, the list of Federal officials attending this planning meeting seems to further this scenario. We note with interest the following officials:

1. F.E.M.A. -- Federal Emergency Management Agency -- New Age author, Bill Cooper, states plainly that FEMA is designed to be our emergency government during our planned panic. [Behold A Pale Horse, pages 114-119]. It is a very bad sign that FEMA officials were at this meeting.

2. C.I.A. -- Central Intelligence Agency -- Why is our major spy agency concerned with a supposed problem that exists only within Agriculture? What foreign force is about to "attack" us with a disease that is mild among animals and absolutely does not threaten human health?

3. Army's Biological Warfare Office -- What are they doing at this meeting? We have heard reports that FMD might have been unleashed upon us by Arab foreign governments, like Saddam Hussein. How ridiculous this idea is! If Saddam were to attack us biologically, he has weapons that really kill humans; further, the real damage being done in Britain is coming from officials whose prescribed "cure" is doing the most damage! If this is a biological attack from a foreign country, our own officials are playing into the hands of the attackers by doing major damage by their "cure".

4. Coast Guard -- why is the Coast Guard represented at this meeting? Does this plan call for a sealing of our entire coast line once the panic hits in full force?

I find it highly interesting -- and highly disturbing -- to find these officials present at a meeting designed to effectively counter this mild animal disease that poses no threat to human beings. Can you see the outline of a more sinister plan being implemented?

Let us return to this article:

"FEMA official Bruce Baughman said the plans call for treating an outbreak much the same as a natural disaster, in which states take primary responsibility and call on federal resources as needed. 'We are certainly treating it like it's a probable likelihood,' he said."

What a minute? Did he say that the states would take primary responsibility and would call on federal resources as needed? Is this the reason North Carolina took the first step in passing legislation that would deny its citizens their Fourth Amendment rights in combating Foot-and-Mouth disease? If this is the case, might we see other states copying North Carolina, especially as the disease supposedly spreads?

"Others present at the meeting said the chances that the disease will spread to the United States were described as very high, fueling an intensive planning effort ... At last week's meeting, officials described arrangements for earth-moving equipment to bury thousands of animal carcasses, and the drafting of emergency orders that could suspend some environmental regulations to allow quick burial of afflicted livestock."

So, we now know that American officials are also planning to slaughter millions of healthy animals in an effort to "combat" this minor disease that has afflicted only a small percentage of the total animals being killed. Will American officials kill 98% healthy animals as they have done -- and continue to do -- in Britain? I do think this article is implying that such will be the case, so we Americans had better get prepared for an extreme economic meltdown as we prepare to destroy our livestock industry and supporting industry, estimated to be worth as much as one trillion dollars.

USDA official, Kevin Herglotz, sought to downplay this meeting, likening it to military exercises in the Army, and I might believe him, were it not for the anti-Constitution law just passed in North Carolina with the flimsy excuse of Foot-and-Mouth Disease.

CONTINUATION OF THE SLAUGHTER IN BRITAIN

NEWS BRIEF: "Opposition in Britain mounts to animal slaughter", USAToday.com World, 4/13/2001.

"LONDON (AP) — As foot-and-mouth continued to spread across Britain on Saturday, the government found itself caught between a tourist industry desperate to draw visitors back to the countryside and farmers angry that hundreds of thousands of healthy animals are to be slaughtered. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals joined mounting opposition to the mass slaughter, which calls for healthy sheep and pigs to be destroyed within two miles of infected sites in the worst-affected areas of northern England and southern Scotland."

Another lower level official complains that the government is killing the wrong sheep! " 'If there are speculative culls the government risks killing the wrong sheep in the wrong place', said the group's chief veterinarian, Chris Laurence."

This slaughter of healthy animals in order to "solve" a minor disease that cannot be transmitted to humans has to rank as one of history's greatest and most improbable disasters. How can a people so willingly stand by to let their elected officials carry out such a travesty? Truly, Westerners seem to have been so affected by an inferior education, and rendered so docile, that they will allow their economies to be ravaged, and their liberties to be ended, on the most flimsy of excuses.

DOES THE ILLUMINATI HAVE US EXACTLY WHERE THEY WANT US?

But, this is exactly the type of citizen the Illuminati expected to have at the very end of their plan. Listen to New Age author, Bill Cooper, in Behold A Pale Horse:

"... the simplest method of securing a silent weapon and gaining control of the public is to keep the public undisciplined and ignorant of basic systems principles on the one hand, while keeping them confused, disorganized, and distracted with matters of no real importance on the other hand." [Page 56-7] Truly, while Americans complain about the cost of ATM fees, their liberties are slipping away!

"Those who will not use their brains are no better off than those who have no brains, and so this mindless school of jelly-fish, father, mother, son, and daughter, become useful beasts of burden or trainers of the same." [Page 64] Perhaps this explains the docility of the British people in the face of the disaster they are enduring right now, even the farmers who have the most to lose. The Illuminati must feel that the populations are at the point of docility they have been planning for decades. Is it now time to actually implement their final solution plans?

"... the Department of Justice ... has had plans for the suspension of writ of habeas corpus since the year of 1946 ... the federal government considers the patriotic conservative as its greatest enemy." [Page 149]

Keep your eyes on the Middle East, for as that planned Third World War [Read NEWS1056 for full details] blows up, the rest of the planned disasters -- probably including Foot-and-Mouth disease -- will begin to roll out as well.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

Answers

Does anyone here live in NC? ;)

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

I'm for it. There are similar laws for rabies. If my cat bites someone, they can come in my house and take it, either to euthanize it and check its brain for rabies or put it in quarantine (if I can pay for it) for six months. There are road blocks all the time to check on current drivers licenses, baby seat, and seatbelt use. In this state, with more pigs than people, foot and mouth would be an apocalyptic economic blow--most of the state would be pushed back to Depression living, no kidding. Whatever it takes to stop the disease needs to be implemented. It wasn't in Britain and look what happened.

The 4th is about unreasonable search and seizure. I don't consider this unreasonable, given the alternative.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

Pioneer Press

Published: Thursday, April 19, 2001

Martial-law option studied as response to foot-mouth

LEE EGERSTROM STAFF WRITER

Minnesota state officials said Wednesday they might ask the Minnesota Legislature for authority to declare martial law in Minnesota counties or regions if foot-and-mouth disease strikes livestock herds.

The governor has such authority now if a contagious disease imperils humans, said state Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson and officials at the Board of Animal Health. But the legal issues are not as clear in a crisis affecting animal health.

``What we would be dealing with is an economic disaster, not a human crisis,'' said Hugoson, speaking before a legislative panel.

Martial law, at least at it has been applied in the United Kingdom, would mean the state could use the Minnesota National Guard and law enforcement agencies to keep people from moving in or out of some communities. Children from contaminated farms would not be allowed to go to school, Hugoson said.

A task force from state agencies is working with the attorney general's office and governor's office to determine if emergency powers are sufficient or if a new statute ``with teeth'' is needed, Hugoson said.

State officials said they might seek additional funds from the Legislature to put contingency plans in place, given that the European outbreak could threaten agriculture, manufacturing and tourism industries in Minnesota.

Although there is no evidence of the disease in the United States, in comments before the start of Wednesday's hearing Hugoson said, ``I wake up with knots in my stomach every night.''

Hugoson, state veterinarian Tom Hagerty, and deputy state veterinarian Bill Hartmann appeared before the House Agriculture and Rural Development Policy Committee to brief lawmakers on contingency plans.

Groceries for farm families would be delivered in bags left by the side of the road. As was done in England, people would be restricted to their property for two to three weeks after health authorities determine that the farm has been decontaminated, he said.

Foot-and-mouth -- a virus spread via wildlife and people's clothes, shoes and vehicles -- was discovered in early February on a farm in northern England and since has spread to 1,300 farms in the United Kingdom. Outbreaks also have been reported in Ireland, the Netherlands and France. The disease, while not a threat to human health, requires large-scale destruction of livestock.

Although the disease is found in parts of Africa, Asia and South America, state officials said that the Midwest's ties to Europe, which bring a stream of passengers and goods to airports and ports, represent the largest threat to this country.

Hugoson said meetings with federal health, agriculture and trade officials have determined that states will need to act first if the disease is diagnosed on farms, zoos or in wildlife. Federal agencies would provide assistance after the diagnosis. About 30 states with large livestock sectors are making contingency plans now, Hugoson said.

An unresolved issue is how to protect a farm family from financial loss if livestock must be destroyed. The federal government is likely to offer an indemnity program that would pay an amount equal to the value of an animal lost to hoof-and-mouth, Hugoson said. However, he added that the real economic hardship would come from the loss of earnings from a breeding herd, not from an animal's initial market value.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

I'm totally with OG on this. There is no such thing as an absolute legal right, which applies in every conceivable circumstance. The interesting legal cases are when rights conflict.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

A similar issue has been resolved in Florida.

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0052pZ

A judge has ruled that a warrant is required to enter properties to destroy diseased citrus trees.

There may not be the same level of economic devastation or urgency in the Florida scenario (at least that's my guess). However, the reports that Sheri has been providing from Britain, and that spurred much of the wrath regarding the citrus trees, has been the extreme bungling by the government representatives. Like destroying property that wasn't infected after all.

There need to be strict guidelines in place, especially if warrants are not required. And especially with the speed that action may be necessary against something like FMD.

Git, I think the disease needs to play itself out. If everyone would stock up their freezers we would collectively have an easier time getting through this. (IOW, process half the herds and let the other half develop whatever immunity is coming.) I'm not hearing about any proposed actions in the U.S. that will make a difference.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

FMD is not always a fatal disease for animals. Some do recover just fine. That is what the British farmers are complaining about. FMD has been around a long time.

I think it is the BSE that they are worried about. They can't tell the difference and so all animals have to die?

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

"FMD is not always a fatal disease for animals. Some do recover just fine."

What we have been hearing is 95% recovery. That's a huge number, but it knocks their productivity for a while.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

Here is a story about the canker issue in Florida.

Injunction Issued in Canker Case

.c The Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) - A judge has issued a preliminary injunction requiring state employees to get search warrants before they enter residents' yards to cut down citrus trees infected with canker.

Since 1996, the state has removed more than 830,000 trees, mostly from homes, in an effort to protect Florida's $8.5 billion citrus industry from the disease that can scar fruit and make it fall prematurely. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says a state law allows workers to enter yards to take the trees.

But residents have complained about state crews breaking fences and sprinklers, and questioned the necessity of the program. Some residents say trees taken from their yards had sentimental value because they were planted by relatives or as memorials.

Judge Ronald M. Friedman ruled Wednesday that the law violated the Fourth Amendment protection against warrantless searches and seizures and that workers must have warrants to enter yards.

Miami-Dade County and the City of North Miami filed the suit challenging the law.

Wesley R. Parsons, an attorney for the state, said officials could appeal or seek area-wide warrants instead of individual warrants for each property.

AP-NY-04-19-01 0031EDT

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

A North Carolina bill that would allow a search of individuals or vehicles on public or private roads by the state veterinarian or an authorized representative, without a warrant, has now become law. The bill, S.799, was enacted because of the threat of foot-and-mouth disease and any other contagious animal disease ... However, the bill also states that the state veterinarian does not even need to have a reasonable suspicion that the person or vehicle is carrying a diseased animal. He can stop persons or vehicles to determine whether they are carrying a diseased animal."

Why is the vet searching cars and people - what are they looking for - a diseased animal??? Sorry, but you can not tell by looking if they are carrying the disease. How many of you carry a cow in the backseat of your car? Sorry, but this is just one more step towards taking our rights and privacy away. What are they going to do if the vet finds that hand gun under your seat or the pea-shooter that your kid forgot in the car??

I am so pissed that I can't even write coherently.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

You sound very coherent to me. but can you keep that cow in the back seat quiet? It's hard to hear you talking with all that mooing....

Now where is Carl with a picture of cows in a car out joyriding?

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

Some information on the virus.

BBC - 12 April, 2001, 14:53 GMT 15:53 UK

Foot-and-mouth: Former vet Keith Baker quizzed

With the Easter school holidays under way, the British tourist industry would normally be facing one of the busiest times of the year.

Yet people are staying away from the countryside because of the disease.

Thousands of animals are being culled because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak and both farming and tourism are in crisis.

The official number of confirmed cases across the UK stands at 1,165 on Monday 9 April and it is feared that the number of cases of foot-and-mouth will exceed those in 1967.

Is the government succeeding in controlling the disease? What else can be done? Would vaccination have worked? How long will it take before the countryside can get back to normal?

Keith Baker, former president of the British Veterinary Association, joined us for a forum and answered your foot-and-month concerns. He qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in 1960 and had considerable experience of the outbreak in 1967.

To listen to coverage of the forum, select the link below:

28k

Highlights of interview:

Chris Daniel, Aberdeenshire, Scotland: How much is actually known about the virus? - The general impression given is that nobody seems to know much about it and we are seeing a number of knee jerk reactions and shooting in the dark - is that true?

Keith Baker: No it is not. There is a tremendous amount known about the foot-and-mouth virus. We are fortunate in this country in that we have the international World Reference Laboratory at Purbright.

Newshost: So is it fair to say the reactions have been knee-jerk in terms of the response to the disease as it does seem as if the policy keeps changing?

Keith Baker: No, the response to a foot-and-mouth outbreak would depend on how it develops. The difficulty with this particular outbreak was that before anybody knew that we had the disease it had been moved all the way around country.

Steve Russell, Lockerbie, Scotland: I am employed as part of a disinfection team, spraying all plant and people entering or leaving uninfected farms as part of the cull program. I would like to know if there has been research carried out as to how effective this kind of disinfection is? What are the consequences of releasing such vast quantities of iodine and citric acid into the environment?

Keith Baker: The Ministry of Agriculture has published on its website a list of the approved disinfectants that are known to be effective against foot-and-mouth disease and they have all been tested at the dilutions that are quoted in the document on the website. As far as citric acid is concerned, it is an organic acid and it will be broken down quite readily.

In terms of the other disinfectants, the important issue there is to make sure that you use them where they won't run off into watercourses etc.

Jill Carss, Calgary, Canada: I'm getting married next month and my family will be coming over from the UK. What precautions are required to help keep foot-and-mouth from coming into Canada?

Keith Baker: The obvious answer there is that one of the things they shouldn't do is to go onto a farm and certainly a farm in any of the problem areas within ten days of going abroad. But if they use clothes that have been through the normal washing process or have been dry-cleaned and they make sure their shoes are clean then there shouldn't be a problem and of course the Canadian officials will make sure that they don't take in any animal or vegetable material with them.

Richard Ellis, Brisbane Australia: I wondered if the British Government had ever thought of using zinc supplements to combat foot-and-mouth disease in animals. It might put the brakes on the epidemic. Scientific work done 25 years ago, shows that zinc interferes with the breakdown of the proteins that cause the disease.

Keith Baker: This is not something I am familiar with but I have heard all sorts of theories put forward as to the way that things might be done and we have had lots of suggestions from virtually all around the world.

Obviously zinc is an important factor in the well-being of the skin but I am not aware that it has a direct effect on the virus and it is the virus that damages the skin tissues.

John Horton, Detroit, Michigan, USA: Why was cattle, lamb, and even chicken feed formulated with the remains of similar animals? Mad cow disease is a more important problem than foot-and-mouth which is understood better, would not you agree?

Newshost: It is important here to make the distinction to people from overseas that we are talking about very different types of diseases here are we not?

Keith Baker: We are talking about a totally different form of disease. Foot-and-mouth is a typical virus disease - it is one of the most infectious ones that we know. But in terms of using protein in rations for livestock - I looked at this many years ago and the practice goes back long before I was born and so it something that has been taking place over many, many years - and until you come up with a new disease like BSE - then you don't appreciate that there is likely to be a problem.

Newshost: Now that we know about BSE though, isn't it reasonable to say that world wide we really ought to be very wary about using these protein at all?

Keith Baker: The problem with BSE was meat and bone meal. The probable cause of this particular outbreak was catering waste and what has to be remembered is that catering waste comes from materials that have been passed as fit for human consumption and then if they are properly processed they shouldn't create a risk.

Newshost: I should add for information that there is now a proposal from the British Government to ban the use of pig swill.

Mark Hughes, New Zealand: Is this latest outbreak a direct result of the intensive farming techniques being employed by farmers? (e.g. overcrowding, no natural sunlight, etc).

Keith Baker: No it is not. In fact, intensive farming has nothing to do with the spread of the disease. The spread of the disease and the dissemination around the country was mostly due to the movement of sheep and unfortunately they went through a market before the disease was discovered on the original pig premises and by the time the disease was found, the sheep had gone the length and breadth of the country.

Suzan Sedgwick, Sedbergh, England: If foot-and- mouth is supposed to die when the animals are killed as they say, then why can it be carried and brought into this country through meat from other countries?

Keith Baker: I can't answer which particular meat it came in from but she is quite right in that the virus in muscle will be killed by the changes that take place after death - as long as the muscle is matured, the acidity in the muscle will kill off the virus. What it won't do is change the acidity in bone marrow or in some of the lymph nodes and so there is a risk in meat. But as far as the carcasses are concerned - they are not cut up for meat - they are destroyed as they are and therefore the virus will have been killed by the changes that take place after death and of course the outside of the carcasses are all sprayed with disinfectant as well.

Diane Sands, Port Charlotte, USA: It has been said that disease is so contagious that it could be carried into an area on the "antenna of a car". What is being done to prevent the wild creatures from spreading the disease?

Keith Baker: It is more likely to be carried on the tyres of a car but however it is carried, it has got to be able to get into contact with a susceptible animal. So it has got to get in touch with any cloven-footed animal. I am not aware that the antennae of a car is a particular problem - it has got to really be something on the ground that the animals can get in touch with.

Newshost: What about the question of wild animals - e.g. deer and other animal in the wild? There hasn't so far been a proposal for any sort of mass cull of wild creatures and of course that would be extremely controversial. Is there a risk that even if you get rid of the susceptible livestock that it could still be harboured in wildlife?

Keith Baker: A cull of wildlife would be extremely difficult and of course deer are susceptible to the disease. But if you went out into the wild and tried to cull deer you would probably spread them far further than they would normally go in their normal course of activities. So the decision has been made that you leave them as undisturbed as possible so that they don't, if they by chance pick up the infection, spread it far and wide.

Peter Best, Gloucester, UK: Were the Ministry of Agriculture too slow in seeking help from outside agencies during recent weeks? Were any of the recommendations of the report into the 1967 outbreak implemented within the first 48-96 hours of the first case being identified, and if so which part(s) of the 1967 report were swiftly actioned?

Keith Baker: As far foot-and-mouth is concerned, you respond as fast as you can and until you know the extent of your problems it is very difficult to decide how many staff and how many people you need to deal with the outbreak. In fact the numbers in any state veterinary service around the world would be totally inadequate to cope with a situation that we have got here. But the numbers of veterinary surgeons has gone up phenomenally to somewhere over 1,400 and it is important to make best use of these people.

Sue Willoughby, Chard, Somerset: What concerns me is the length of time that the foot-and-mouth virus can remain active. Can this virus lie dormant just waiting for a passing host? If this is the case what about wildlife rabbits, foxes etc; is it possible that they could be carrying the virus?

Keith Baker: The virus will survive if it protected in dung etc. This is one of the reasons why once you have killed the animals, you cleanse and disinfect the premises and you leave them empty for a while. But the virus itself is very susceptible to sunlight so hopefully if the weather improves this will be a natural aid to killing the virus in the environment.

Hilary Bidmead, Dumfries, Scotland: Wouldn't you expect the disease to be flattening out by now with the Ministry of Agriculture killing all animals around the outbreaks?

Keith Baker: If you read what the Government's chief scientist said yesterday - he believes that it is flattening out. But you can't rely on the results for one day. What one needs to do is to see the results over a period of say a week and I think the evidence of the last week does tend to suggest that things are flattening out. But what I hoped to see soon is not just a flattening out but a diminution in the number of daily outbreaks.

Simon Adams, London, UK: Any child knows that Cows eat grass. In turning the farm of living creatures into the food factory, have we not maybe lost touch with reality and therefore deserve whatever plagues may come?

Keith Baker: If you think that the basic problem is in sheep, the majority of sheep are fed a very natural ration - they are the ones that graze the hillsides and are normally fed on straw and hay and it is very few of them that will get a concentrated ration.

I think the difference between this particular outbreak and 1967/68 is that you have now got fewer but larger farms - what you have therefore got is a bigger basis on which the virus can multiple and that is one of the problems.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

"The Ministry of Agriculture has published on its website a list of the approved disinfectants that are known to be effective against foot-and-mouth disease and they have all been tested at the dilutions that are quoted in the document on the website."

One the photographs posted recently regarding Britain was someone walking through a bunch of dead sheep, spraying them. But I didn't see anyone poised to flip the bodies over so they could be saturated all over. Seems like it would be necessary to do that.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

No mention of the fact that this is a common disease, as opposed to BSE. Or that the fatality rate of the animals that get it very small, as pointed out above.

Wy can't the animals be sprayed while they are alive? wouldn't that help?

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

Quote is from Foot and Mouth Disease

EPIDEMIOLOGY

One of the most contagious animal diseases, with important economic losses
Low mortality rate in adult animals, but often high mortality in young due to myocarditis

Hosts

Bovidae (cattle, zebus, domestic buffaloes, yaks), sheep, goats, swine, all wild ruminants and suidae. Camelidae (camels, dromedaries, llamas, vicunas) have low susceptibility

Transmission

Direct or indirect contact (droplets)
Animate vectors (humans, etc.)
Inanimate vectors (vehicles, implements)
Airborne, especially temperate zones (up to 60 km overland and 300 km by sea)

Sources of virus

Incubating and clinically affected animals
Breath, saliva, faeces, and urine; milk and semen (up to 4 days before clinical signs)
Meat and by-products in which pH has remained above 6.0
Carriers: particularly cattle and water buffalo; convalescent animals and exposed vaccinates (virus persists in the oropharynx for up to 30 months in cattle or longer in buffalo, 9 months in sheep). African Cape buffalo are the major maintenance host of SAT serotypes

Occurrence

FMD is endemic in parts of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America (sporadic outbreaks in free areas)
For detailed information on occurrence, see recent issues of World Animal Health and the OIE Bulletin

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001