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Human health not at risk of foot and mouth disease

Travelers play important role in keeping foot and mouth disease out of America

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FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE EXPERTS

VIROLOGY/EPIDEMIOLOGY

Dr. Mo Salman, Professor. Dr. Salman is an internationally recognized expert in analytical veterinary epidemiology, international and national animal disease surveillance systems, studies on animal populations and epidemiology of infectious diseases. He is a Fulbright Scholar and a Diplomate with the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. He can explain the origins, effects and transmission methods of FMD.

Dr. Paul Morley, Director of Biosecurity at Colorado State University.
Dr. Morley is an expert in veterinary epidemiology, infectious diseases, biosecurity and antimicrobial resistance. Biosecurity is the first line of defense with a disease as contagious as FMD, and there are many precautions to be considered. Dr. Morley can explain measures to be taken by the average citizen as well as those in the veterinary medical profession. Once at outbreak occurs, there are other methods of containment.

VETERINARY MEDICINE

Dr. Anthony Knight, Director of Clinical Sciences, Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
Dr. Knight is a Diplomate with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in Great Britain. He sits on the Colorado Animal Emergency Preparedness Task Force, and the Animal Welfare Committee for the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association. Dr. Knight has seen FMD firsthand as a boy growing up on his father's ranch in Kenya. He is knowledgeable on how the vaccination process works, the advantages and disadvantages to vaccinating a large population of animals.

Dr. Cleon Kimberling, Colorado State Cooperative Extension Veterinarian.
Member of Colorado Animal Emergency Preparedness Task Force, as organized by the state veterinarian's office. Works directly with farmers and ranchers in Colorado. Specializes in educating animal producers about animal health, diseases and parasites. Dr. Kimberling can discuss how FMD spreads, the symptoms, how it affects animals, the vaccination designed to combat it, and the latest information about the disease. He also can talk about how it will affect Colorado ranchers. Has been with Colorado State Cooperative Extension for 37 years and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine since 1959.

ECONOMY

Norm Dalsted, Colorado State Cooperative Extension agricultural economist.
Dalsted can discuss the overall impact a FMD outbreak would have on the national and regional economy. Agriculture is one of the largest industries in Colorado and one of the top industries in the nation. An outbreak would not only impact livestock producers, but also crop prices because of demand for such large agricultural commodities as alfalfa, corn and other animal feeds. A large outbreak would devastate recreation and outdoor sports (hiking, camping, hunting, rock climbing), travel, tourism, restaurants, etc.

FOOD SCIENCE

Pat Kendall, Colorado State Cooperative Extension food science and food safety specialist.
Kendall is a well-known Colorado expert in food safety issues. She can explain how food is contaminated by FMD and how it is spread via food to other animals. Although humans can't contract the disease, the food supply will be greatly affected by an outbreak in the United States. Many foods won't be produced or sold due to the potential to infect animals (through waste, discarded food wrappers or containers, etc). An outbreak would drastically affect imported/exported foods, making many unavailable to consumers, especially meat and dairy products. In addition, Kendall can offer tips on preparing for foreign travel, how to cut down on protocols travelers need to follow at airports (bringing food and companion animals).

GRIEF AND LOSS

Carolyn Butler, MS, Colorado State's Argus Institute.
Carolyn Butler is the co-author of "The Human Animal Bond and Grief." She is the Clinical Coordinator for the Argus Institute at Colorado State University, which provides educational curriculum to the professional veterinary medicine program and counseling and support services to pet-owners on site at the veterinary teaching hospital. Butler says that, although different from the loss of a companion animal, farmers and ranchers whose herds are lost to FMD will experience a tremendous sense of grief, in addition to the stress of financial loss. "These are animals they have cared for, helped through illnesses and, in many cases, known for years," Butler said. Although these animals are intended for slaughter, farmers never want to lose them in a tragic situation such as this. "Most farmers and ranchers consider themselves stewards of these animals," Butler said. "They are caring and very independent, so this kind of loss-so massive and completely beyond their control-can be devastating." Butler suggests that it would be a good idea for the British government to establish a mental health outreach program, including telephone "hotlines" to aid farmers who need to grieve.

Robert (Bob) Fetsch, Colorado State Cooperative Extension human development and family specialist. Fetsch can discuss the unique social structure of ranchers and farmers and their deep personal and emotional attachment to their land and animals. The loss of their livelihood and, more importantly, their animals to a massive disease outbreak is not only financially devastating, but emotionally crippling as well. When a family spends 30 to 40 years refining, breeding, caring for and raising a herd of animals, and they all are destroyed, it also represents the destruction of the lifetime work of several generations. Coming from an agricultural background himself, Fetsch's research and Cooperative Extension leadership has included helping disabled farmers and ranchers continue to work in their profession, anger and conflict management, communication and problem solving.

PRODUCTION SPECIALISTS

Steve LeValley, Colorado State Cooperative Extension sheep specialist.
Designs and assists Cooperative Extension offices throughout Colorado implement programs to help sheep producers. These programs include information about biosecurity issues, and LeValley has helped design and implement biosecurity plans at CSU's research facilities, including a new, state-of-the-art livestock center near campus. Colorado has a $40 million sheep and wool industry, not including the sheep packing industry, which is the largest in the US. A FMD outbreak might impact the availability of wool for textile products as well as meat and dairy products from sheep.

Tim Stanton, Colorado State Cooperative Extension feedlot animal specialist.
Some of the largest feedlots in Colorado hold more than 100,000 head, meaning exposure to an infectious disease would have a critical impact on these facilities. The livestock industry in Colorado comprises 60 percent of Colorado's $3 billion agricultural industry, one of the largest components of the state's economy. Because most livestock raised by private and commercial ranchers end up at feedlots, the money generated by feedlot industry makes up the majority of that percentage. Stanton teaches feedlot management and feedlot animal nutrition to CSU students and helps keep Colorado's feedlot industry up-to-date on the most current information through Cooperative Extension.

William (Bill) Wailes, Colorado State Cooperative Extension dairy animal specialist
Colorado's dairy industry is among the 20 largest in US, with dairy being the fourth largest agricultural industry in the nation. There are 85,000 dairy cows in Colorado on 160 dairy farms. FMD would substantially impact the availability of dairy products. The disease drastically decreases milk production and the virus can survive in milk for several months, making dairy products a means of spreading the disease.

Jack Whittier, Colorado State Cooperative Extension cow/calf specialist
Whittier lends his expertise to Cooperative Extension agents throughout Colorado to help ranchers improve and manage their cattle herds and breeding stock through educational programs. Whittier can talk about replenishing UK herds, what a FMD outbreak would mean to Colorado ranchers, and the difficulty of rebuilding a ranch after such an outbreak.

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© Copyright Colorado State University, 2001
Please direct comments and questions to dellraem@coop.ext.colostate.edu

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Milan A. Rewerts, director of Cooperative Extension, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. Cooperative Extension programs are available to all without discrimination. No endorsement of products mentioned is intended nor is criticism implied of products not mentioned.