My we are full of ourselves here aren't we??
Yes I am quite familiar with the transmission of BSE and the fact it is not contagious animal to animal.
Your question was, "Show me the meat one epidemic stopped at a border."
And I did. The epidemic of BSE was mostly stopped at the border by restricting transit of animals and animal products at our border.
My post was a little misleading in that I accidentally edited out my intended reference to FMD as well as BSE before I finished my first post. Both these diseases were stopped by severely restricting transport of animals and potential vectors coming into the United States.
The harsh screening we experienced repeatedly all had the focus of stopping FMD at our border. Was it fullproof? No, but nothing is.
As far as BSE goes, yes we stopped it by stopping the vectors from entering the country, older animals beyond 30 months of age and any byproducts that could contain the prions that could cause BSE.
I too am very wary of the statement that ebola is not transmissible until symptomatic. That makes no sense to me on the surface, but I don't really feel like reading up on the research that is used to support this argument. Suffice to say, based on my understanding of viral infections and their transmissions, I would be very concerned about transmission well before the host was symptomatic.
Not full of myself. Just tired of trying to inject a little sense into discussions between fear mongering idiots. Tell me whch border FMD was stopped at. In fact, find me a continent that never had it.
You need a better example.
The most recent outbreaks of FMD that occurred in Great Britain and in Paraguay, Argentina etc. did not make it into the US. I have a few friends who had FMD on their ranches and farms in both Argnetina and Great Britan and it is a nasty, extremely infectious. USDA instituted restrictions on travelers coming from these hot areas and they worked.
In general, you are correct, borders are not extremely effective at stopping diseases, but that doesn't mean you don't make an effort and become proactive in trying to minimize the spread and ultimate damage done to our citizens.
