The recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Europe has led to a lot of ridiculous speculation about what caused the outbreak. Additionally, in a warning to their citizens, authorities from both Hungary and Slovakia have speculated that the virus did not develop in nature. This has led the European Commission to open multiple investigations. The Commission continues to actively investigate the source of the virus, which is still unknown. In addition to looking at that source assumption, they’re digging into different scenarios, even an engineered attack.
In a world of highly conditional policy frameworks, the European Commission has understandably chosen not to rebut the statements made by Richard Takáč, Slovakia’s Agriculture Minister. He said a number of questions have surfaced around the region related to the outbreak. Speculations aside, many different questions remain that we here in Slovakia are asking ourselves. The European Commission is asking the same questions as well,” he said.
Gergely Gulyás, chief of Cabinet to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, expressed concerns about the nature of the virus. He highlighted that we shouldn’t rule out the potential that the virus is not of natural origin. We may be dealing with a very specifically designed virus. This caveat fits squarely with the continuing congressional and criminal investigations into the virus’s origins.
Experts continue to investigate the outbreak, with a spokesperson for the EU reference laboratory stating that “The virus can be carried on contaminated shoes, clothing, equipment, or even bird feathers from migratory species. Similar cases of unintentional introduction have been documented in the past.” This continues to feed the idea that accidental transmission is still the major concern.
In addition to its response, the European Commission is leading on virus isolation and genome sequencing at its reference laboratory as part of routine preparedness. Such analyses would be critical in determining how this outbreak first arose and possibly confirming or disproving theories about its origins.
Recognizing these exciting possibilities, experts warn against reading too much into it. Jiří Černý, an ecologist and virologist at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, urged against confirmation bias and called for exploring other explanations. If passengers are swiping, we should accept that assumption, but he argued we should be looking at the data first. That doesn’t imply a bioterrorist attack is the most likely explanation.
We believe that this investigation is long overdue, but extremely urgent. The devastating consequences of the last FMD outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2001 underscore the urgency. The danger demands action now. Agriculture and tourism lost more than €15 billion. That costly crisis.
The European Commission is still clearly intent on finding out what is causing the current E. coli outbreak. Even as investigations unfold, officials stress that the affected communities should focus on first treating the event as an accident until more information is known. They want to see more data collected and make sure if claims are made they can be backed up with data.
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