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McDonnell Says FMD Would "Spread Like Wildfire"
Northern Ag Network
July 16, 2008

By Haylie Shipp

In a teleconference Wednesday afternoon, USCA and AFTA explained why importation of fresh meat and live cattle from Argentina should be postponed.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reportedly wants to reopen the U.S. borders to imports of fresh meat and live cattle from Argentina despite that country's ongoing struggle with Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). A group of USDA inspectors was recently in the country, examining how to let them export to the U.S. from the regions that have been deemed "FMD-free."

This regionalization of Argentina is a huge controversy. With FMD being an airborne disease, many do not see how writing an imaginary line in the sand can separate one region from the next. During the teleconference, U.S. Cattlemen Association Director Emeritius, Leo McDonnell, told our group how quickly FMD would spread in the U.S. if the outbreak started in Texas.

According to Kansas State University, such an outbreak would cost the state of Kansas one billion dollars alone. Leo reminded us that during a 2001 outbreak in England, the losses added up to $20 billion and resulted in the destruction on 6 million animals.

Currently the U.S. only imports beef from countries with FMD if the product is cooked. Cooking it kills the disease. However, both the fresh meat and live cattle products are considered to be carriers. This is why legislation has been formed to postpone the importation of those two products.

Support has been drummed up in both the House and the Senate for a "Keep America FMD Free" bill. American Task Force Argentina's Executive Director, Robert Raben, tells where that backing has come from.

For more information on this situation, visit the American Task Force Argentina and the U.S. Cattlemen Association.