Short description
In 2001, foot-and-mouth disease raged across Britain. The only thing more disturbing than the outbreak was the government reaction: the mass slaughter and incineration of millions of cattle. Drawing on government and private sources, this text reveals the people, policies and fears that led to devastation.
Long description
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is currently regarded as one of the world's worst animal plagues. But how did this label become attached to a curable disease that poses little threat to human health? And why, in the epidemic of 2001, did the government's control strategy still rely upon Victorian trade restrictions and mass slaughter? This groundbreaking and well-researched book shows that for over a century, FMD has brought fear, tragedy and sorrow - damaging businesses and shaping international relations. Yet these effects were neither inevitable nor caused by FMD itself but rather were the product of legislation used to control it. In this sense, FMD is a 'manufactured' plague not a natural one. The book turns the spotlight on this process of manufacture, revealing a rich history beset by controversy, in which party politics, class relations, veterinary ambitions, agricultural practices, the priorities of farming and the meat trade, fears for national security and scientific progress all made FMD what it is today.