North America, Australia and New Zealand are the only areas that remain untouched by foot and mouth disease. Officials at Minnesota's county fairs, and soon, the State Fair would like to keep it that way.
This summer, many county fairs have posted signs and reminded folks about the danger of foot-and-mouth disease. And this week, when the Minnesota State Fair opens, there will be signs asking visitors who've travelled outside the United States within the past seven days, not to enter the livestock barns. Mainstreet Radio's Laurel Druley has this report.
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SPEAKER: This time with a nice round of applause--
LAUREL DRULEY: 12-year-old Brandon Buck showed two market barrow pigs last week at the Steele County Fair. His blue ribbon dangles from his back pocket, a proud but humble winner.
BRANDON BUCK: I got first in my class and 14th overall.
LAUREL DRULEY: His father, David Buck, says they'll sell the pigs instead of going to the state fair competition this year. David Buck says he doesn't dwell on the foot-and-mouth scare but is taking precautions to protect his cattle at home.
DAVID BUCK: I'm not a real concern at this point. I mean, it sticks in the back of your head. We have cattle as well. We take a couple at the barn. And I hate to see some kind of devastation like that take place. It's a concern, but I'm not-- at that point, I think the government's doing a good enough job monitor and keep this stuff out of the country.
LAUREL DRULEY: Foot and mouth is a highly communicable viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals such as goats, pigs, sheep, and cattle. It was eradicated in the United States in the 1920s. But a recent epidemic in the United Kingdom led to the slaughter of more than 4 million animals there. While not a danger to humans, the virus can spread from country to country on clothing and shoes. It can survive for days and then be transmitted elsewhere.
Jonathan Dumar, as a forage pork ambassador, passes out ribbons to the Steele County winners. He says just like any other year, participants must bring papers verifying veterinarians have examined animals before the competition.
JONATHAN DUMAR: There hasn't been as much concern in the past couple of months as there was when the first outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease and mad cow disease were coming out. You don't hear as much about it now as you used to. But everyone's a little concerned.
And there's a lot of farmers that aren't going to be taking their animals home after the fair because they want to make sure that their animals don't have anything wrong with them. There are other diseases besides foot and mouth that they can get. But it's very unlikely that something will happen.
LAUREL DRULEY: Fair officials agree. They say the chance of the disease entering Minnesota during the fair is slim. Steve Pooch, assistant manager of the state fair competition, says about 1.7 million people come to the fair, and about 600,000 go through the livestock barns. Pooch says it would be difficult to make all of those people clean their boots and shoes before entering the barns. He says he hopes the signs posted outside each of the eight barns will be sufficient.
STEVE POOCH: Well, we're not officially enforcing it. People are on the honor system. And we feel that people are going to obey this. They don't want to be the person that brings it into the country, either. So it would be pretty difficult to enforce, as you can well imagine.
LAUREL DRULEY: There are improved efforts this year to keep the fair safe, not just for the livestock but for humans. Health officials have set up handwashing stations outside the barns and food concession stands to remind visitors of good hygiene. About 15,000 animals will arrive at the fairgrounds by Wednesday. And officials say, as always, they will all be examined by a veterinarian prior to the competition. But Steve Pooch says they aren't testing for foot-and-mouth disease. Laurel Druley, Minnesota Public Radio, Owatonna.