>Also, I sniff a vaccine in the making??Scare everyone to death and then
>roll out the vaccine for FMD??

There IS a vaccine for FMD, that is known all over the world.

Problem is, just like the vaccines for Lyme Disease in dogs (and people) in
the US, once vaccinated, the animal or person will always thereafter test
positive for it as if they have it or developed immunity in the natural way
(as happens less and less in this world!)  Even though the FMD vaccine IS
effective at preventing farm animals from catching the disease, it is only
used like clear-cutting a wide swath of timber around a forest fire.  It is
used to prevent the spread, but after the spread of the disease has stopped,
the animals that were vaccinated and are now IMMUNE are then destroyed!!

I wonder if the farmers are compensated by insurance tor the total loss of
the animals but not for the lower fertility, failure to thrive, less milk,
and lower prices for meat and milk on the market that would result from
allowing the disease to run its course.  The drive for profit is clearly
behind this -- destroy the animals, and you can collect and avoid loss, let
nature take its course, and you will have a bad year of less or no profit
(sort of like a grain farmer whose crop suffered a drought, or high winds
just before harvest.)

In their defence, farming costs so much and yields such low profit margins
compared to other industries, most farmers are overextended on their
expensive equipment, fancy seed, blood stock, etc., and too many could "lose
it all" if they had a bad enough year to not be able to make those payments.

Certainly the strength of this round of the disease is known, it is no
different than millions of other bouts internationally, so it is a bit
extreme to panic and compare this instance of FMD to the Flu of 1919. The
Influenza Epidemic killed so many people because it was a virulent strain
and was being spread, not to well-nourished farm animals on modern,
scientifically-run farms, but hungry and incredibly stressed people badly
affected by a world war....

laurie (Mother Mastiff)

(How would YOU like to be destroyed for having a cold and fever blisters,
because someone in power was paranoid about your "disgusting and easily
transmitted disease"?