Foot-and-Mouth in a Globalized World

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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.