Foot and mouth

[cowman]

The Mexicans have a liner load of US cattle held at the border and have partially closed their border to the US. They suspect foot and mouth. The Americans say they have tested these animals and they claim they don't have foot and mouth, but some other disease!
Now the rumor going around is that Texas has had quite a few outbreaks of F and M in the last several years but it has been hushed up! Also I've heard they had three cases of BSE that were quietly dealt with. Now I don't know if any of these rumors are true, but the BSE one came from a vet who works for Pfizer!
I wouldn't wish F and M on anyone but it would be interesting to see how " holier than thou" the yanks might be if they had it! I wonder how the old fools at R-calf would take that? I suspect we might see a whole new attitude adjustment?

[jensend]

according to the houston chronicle the tests came back negative for f and m and the border is reopened.

[Bruce14]

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Preliminary tests were negative on U.S. cattle being held at the Mexican border that were suspected of carrying the devastating foot-and-mouth disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday.

Mexico sealed its border to American cattle on Friday after 40 cattle were spotted with blisters, which are one symptom of foot-and-mouth disease. The animal illness rarely harms humans but cripples livestock and is economically devastating for farmers.

A Mexican agriculture official said U.S. cattle were forbidden from certain areas in Texas and Arizona.

The United States has not had a case of foot-and-mouth disease since 1929.

USDA spokeswoman Alisa Harrision said more extensive test results on the animals likely will be available sometime early next week. She added that the preliminary test for foot-and-mouth disease is a reliable one and has never been reversed by more extensive testing.

However, Harrison said the cattle tested positive for another disease, bovine papular stomatitis, in preliminary results. That disease already exists in the United States and a positive finding will not jeopardize U.S. trade, she added.

It was still unclear when Mexico would reopen its entire border to U.S. cattle. The disrupted trade was criticized by the Bush administration as a premature decision by Mexico.

The two countries already were engaged in a string of disputes over agriculture trade.

USDA officials insisted that Friday's tests were "routine." They said the United States conducts about 800 such tests each year.

They said the 40 cattle being isolated in Nogales, Arizona, near the Mexican border, did not display some typical symptoms of foot-and-mouth disease, such as weight loss and fever.

"Actually, the animals look very good. They look like they're gaining weight," Peter Fernandez, associate administrator of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service told reporters.

USDA scientists in Plum Island, New York, were testing samples from the American cattle that were stopped from crossing the border into Mexico.

Mexican officials on Friday requested that the animals be tested, according to Fernandez.

The foot-and-mouth disease virus wastes pigs, cattle, sheep and goats, sharply reducing meat and milk production. It is easily spread by shoes, farm equipment and even the wind.

American officials have said an outbreak in the United States could cause billions of dollars of losses to farmers.

In 2001, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease spread through Britain and other EU countries, shutting down live animal and meat exports to the United States and other destinations