When registered veterinary technician Dana Parker started her career, there were people in the Canadian veterinary industry who had first-hand experience with the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Europe. Others had colleagues who had been pulled into the crisis. But as that generation retires, fewer people practicing vet medicine have seen the fallout, so the disease has likely faded to an abstract, fuzzy type of risk in people’s minds. But Parker, now with the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC), wants to keep foot-and-mouth on the front burner. Canada’s livestock industry has seen big gains in the last several months, especially federal funds for a Canadian vaccine bank for foot-and-mouth disease. But the vaccines are only to be used to contain an outbreak. Current tests can’t differentiate between vaccinated animals and those previously infected by the disease, so using the vaccine before an outbreak would have punishing trade implications. So, if possible, we need to keep this plague out of the country. If it does hitch a ride with a traveller, we need producers and others in the livestock industry to know what it looks like and how to reduce the spread.

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