| By
DEBORAH FRAZIER Scripps Howard News Service
DENVER
- Those fuzzy sheepskin slippers, that tasty homemade sausage,
that cool cow's horn and the other travelers' trophies from
Great Britain could carry the foot-and-mouth virus.
The
Colorado livestock industry, Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo.,
and veterinarians warned tourists Tuesday that the animal-based
memorabilia could ignite the epidemic here.
"There
are seven different foot-and-mouth viruses and they remain
infectious for 45 days," said Dr. Tony Knight, a professor
at Colorado State University's school of veterinary medicine.
"The
viruses can live on shoes, untreated hides, unpasteurized
cheese, wool and horn," he said.
That
means a clod of dirt, picked up on a boot during a ramble
through rural England, that fell on an airliner carpet and
was picked up by a farm youngster's sneaker could start
an outbreak here, Knight said.
In fact,
the disease in Great Britain is believed to have started
at a restaurant in northeast England that used foot-and-mouth-infected
meat from Asia. Knight said a local pig farmer used restaurant
meat scraps to feed his pigs, which became infected and
sparked the outbreak.
Hundreds
of thousands of cows, pigs, sheep and goats have been killed
or targeted for death throughout Europe.
Allard,
one of two veterinarians in the Senate, questioned U.S.
Department of Agriculture officials during a hearing Tuesday
on the precautions at airports, including Denver International,
that have direct flights from England.
"The
USDA was very clear that tourism was the greatest threat
of transmission and would be upping their screening at airports,"
said Allard spokesman Sean Conway. "Sen. Allard said
it could spread like wildfire."
Dave
Carter of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union said ranchers
have contacted him about flying back from Europe with people
who were in the countryside, but weren't getting disinfected
at the airport.
"You're
supposed to check a box on the immigration form, but passengers
know that if they do check it, they'll be in line for an
hour with the USDA, so they don't check it," said Carter.
And
Brad Anderson of the Colorado Livestock Association said
several members of that group have reported only spot checks
at the Denver airport for returning European travelers.
"Someone
here just came back from France and said some people on
the flight were checked by the USDA and some weren't,"
he said.
|
