To better understand why FMD was so devastating to those who endured the
outbreak, it is essential to understand the immediate consequences of the disease
on livestock. FMD is a highly contagious disease that affects cloven-foot mammals,
causing lameness, loss of appetite, painful blisters, and significantly reduced milk and meat production. 5 Although the effects of FMD on animals have been equated to that of common influenza in humans, and most infected animals will usually survive the infection, 6 it is the reduced milk and meat production that is considered the most
detrimental symptoms of the disease. Further, FMD makes any product from an
infected animal, whether meat, milk, or wool, unsellable on the international market. A single case is enough to ban sales from the infected nation. 7 Abigail Woods, a vet
who researched the history of FMD for Manchester University, writing in The
Guardian, claimed that the government regarded FMD primarily as an economic issue, not an animal welfare or public health issue. 8 This, coupled with large amounts of reporting of the disaster as an agricultural disaster, has led to many affected groups being overlooked. 9
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (MAFF) pursued the method
of mass culling of infected animals and the pre-emptive culling of non-infected animals as their primary weapon in combating FMD. 10 Criticism of the competency of
MAFF to handle the FMD outbreak emerged as a running theme throughout this
research. Alistair Campbell, press officer for Tony Blair, made several entries in his
diaries of his and the Prime Minister’s thoughts on MAFF’s han dling of the outbreak.
“Tuesday 27 Feb…no sense of the crisis being gripped properly and no confidence
in the machinery of government not convinced that MAFF could handle the crisis.”
“Wed March 21… We had pretty much - lost confidence in MAFF… TB [Tony Blai r] also exclaiming no confidence in MAFF”. 11 Perhaps the most shocking example of
5 Woods, A Manufactured Plague , Intro XIII 6 Beirman, David, Restoring Tourism Destinations in Crisis: A Strategic Marketing Approach (Wallingford: CABI Publishing is a division of CAB International, 2003) p.174. 7 Ibid. and Abigail, Woods, ‘Kill or Cure?’, The Guardian , 28 February 2001 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2001/feb/28/guardiansocietysupplement4 [Accessed on 17 April 2023] (Para 5 of 20) 8 Woods, ‘Kill or Cure?’, (Para 6 of 20) 9 Mort, M., Convery, I., Baxter, J., & Bailey, C. ‘Psychosocial Effects of the 2001 UK Foot And Mouth Disease Epidemic in A Rural Population: Qualitative Diary Based Study’. BMJ: British Medical Journal , 331 .7527, (2005) 1234 – 1237, p.1234. 10 Peck, ‘Psychological impact of foot -and- mouth disease on farmers’, p.523. 11 Campbell, Alastair, and Richard. Stott, The Blair Years: Extracts from the Alastair Campbell Diaries (London: Hutchinson, 2007) p.508 and p.517.
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