Animals burn, travelers are disinfected – what some call an epidemic and others an economic disaster is sweeping from England into France and onward, also popping up in the Middle East and South America.
It’s a well-known disease, delectably called foot-and-mouth. Here in the United States, the headlines horrify and the pictures perplex. But America is far away…or is it? The twentieth century drew the continents together like a massive tectonic shift – in trade, in information, and some would argue – in culture. When it comes to a quick-spreading disease three thousand miles may not be nearly far enough. Travelers – do you have anything to declare?
As a diseased Britain takes on the identity of both dirty culprit and desperate victim – and the European Union rediscovers its borders – it’s two steps back for one world view. Jumping into foot-and-mouth and globalization…feet first.
(Hosted by Judy Swallow)
Guests:
Doctor Lee Ann Thomas, USDA
Ben Gill, President of the National Farmer’s Union in Britain;
David Ropeik, director of Risk Communications at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis.