Another What if question... (Covering up F&MD)

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At the feed store this AM a bunch of local farmers were talking and the question came up: If your stock came down w/ H&MD would you tell the county? Well most of the local farmers seem to have a pact going if farmer A gets the virus he will destory his stock on his own w/ out the county involved in order to save the next guys stock from being destroyed by the state.I think their hope is that if each farmer checks his stock and destorys sick animals the state may not notice it and destroy all the stock in a certain mile radius.It maybe far fetched but would you do the same? I know I would ,if I needed to lose all my stock in order for my neighbor to keep his I would. Or would you try to "hide" the sick animals and keep your stock since some animals will recover? Its a hard choice for some ,what would you do?

-- renee oneill{md.} (oneillsr@home.com), March 15, 2001

Answers

Mad cow disease - maybe, maybe not. F&MD - absolute would report it. If it can be nipped early, it can be kept from spreading. I doubt these farmers know what a devastating economic impact F&MD could have in the U.S.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), March 15, 2001.

I think their thinking is if they handle the problem on their own they could and would do a better job then then the local government.I also think the over all age of the farmers has alot to do with the report or not thinking too. The average age I would guess is mid 60's, since I am not in a big livestock area we do not have "new" farms starting,we are lucky to have the few we do.The old timers do not have alot of respect for the local gove. and I think they fear it too.

-- renee oneill{md.} (oneillsr@home.com), March 15, 2001.

F&MD does not happen spontaneously, someone or something has to spread it to others. By not reporting it you are almost guaranteeing to make the problem worse. At least if reported, lots of gov't resources can come to bear on ALL aspect of the problem.

-- Lynn Goltz (lynngoltz@aol.com), March 15, 2001.

As much as it would pain me ($$) the only way to get all available help quick would be to report it as soon as it is suspected. Just a note to think about is bringing in new stock to your heard or having lots (any) outsiders on your land that can bring in the problem. Any one traveling to Europe isnt welcome on our place for a while to come. God Bless and Prayers for those who are loosing their stock.

-- Charles steen (xbeeman412@aol.com), March 15, 2001.

I was listening to NPR radio last night on this very issue. They interviewed one cattle farmer in Texas about what he was going to do, if anything, to prepare for F&MD in the U.S. His response was that he wasn't going to do a thing. "It is not in the U.S., so why worry about it." They next interviewed a hog farmer and he said, "the one word to describe F&MD is terror. Because hogs are raised in large feed lots and are in close quarters, the disease can spread dramatically. He is already not letting anyone come to his farm unless he knows who they are and where they have been and for those very few that he lets anywhere near his hogs, they have to take off their clothes and shoes and be disinfected and then don the clothes that he provides for them before they are allowed anywhere near his hogs. Sounds to me like this guy is being prudent. Unfortunately, since the disease can be airborne, even this may not be enough to protect his hogs if the disease comes to the U.S. At least he has the right attitude. These are the kinds of things we should be doing at all ports of entry for foreign visitors such as airports, shipping ports, border checkpoints, etc. if we hope to prevent it from coming to our country. It has already spread to some Arabian countries and some South American countries. Unless we are much more vigilant we will probably suffer the same fate.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), March 15, 2001.


another thought....by telling you are condeming your neighbors to the same fate,killing their stock. Someone {maybe Ken} was saying if his farm got it all farms in a radius would have their stock killed also.If slaughtering the stock was the only way to stop it then ok ,but since its not would you want everyone else to lose out too. I am playing the devil here,I think now I may not tell,I would tell everyone around{telephone them} and get their opion before I called the state.

-- renee oneill{md.} (oneillsr@home.com), March 15, 2001.

Well, just look at what goes on with CAE and goatkeepers. The disease could be wiped out entirely within ten years if people really got on the ball and did something about it. Instead there are still many who are either unaware of the disease and it's symptoms, know their goats have the disease and don't think it matters, or are in complete denial, even when there are swollen knees and reduced health. It's hard to face the fact that you might have to put down an entire herd of animals representing years of work and breeding progress and thousands of dollars. By the time the farmer faced the fact that his animals had it, it would have spread to the other herds in the area.

-- Rebekah Leaf (daniel1@itss.net), March 15, 2001.

Anytime more than one person knows a plan there will be others who know it that you never expected to be involved. DON'T count on everyone ignoring the disease and not reporting it. Someone will tell someone who would prefer the authorities to know. You better be prepared to respond to these authorities as to why you did not report it yourself, if its your herd, whether you agree or disagree with the authorities.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), March 15, 2001.

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