Foot & Mouth

[Jill Strobridge]

----- Original Message -----
From: Carl Edlund Anderson <scylding at CARLAZ.COM>
To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2001 1:00 AM
Subject: Re: Foot & Mouth


> Of course, I have yet to hear any good explanation of why everyone
is
> in such a tizzy over a disease that is -- from what I understand,
not
> that there's been much clarification -- not particularly fatal to
the
> animals,

Not quite true.   It's fatal to lambs and can be one of the first
signs that something is wrong if the illness strikes a sheep flock
at lambing time and all the lambs that are born are dead.    When
that happens an immediate test for foot and mouth may well prove
positive.    Interestingly I've just been reading a book about the
wool trade in 14th century England when there were a terrible couple
of years when wool production collapsed because of a "murrain" among
the sheep.    The author suggested it was foot rot but I wonder if
there was a major outbreak of foot and mouth away back then.

off-subjectively
jill
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Jill Strobridge <jill at theta-orionis.freeserve.co.uk>
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