AUGUSTA – Although foot-and-mouth disease may sound like a plague of the Middle Ages, the deadly livestock disease is sweeping through England’s farmland and into Europe, prompting Maine officials to set up a task force to protect the state’s livestock industry.

Agriculture Commissioner Robert W. Spear announced this week that he has created a Foot-and-Mouth Task Force to “make recommendations, where needed, to ensure that Maine remains free of the disease.”

“It is devastating the livestock industry and the farming community, as well as that country’s tourism industry,” Spear said Tuesday, referring to England. “It is vital that we stay ahead of the curve.”

Foot-and-mouth disease is so destructive, State Veterinarian Chip Ridky said Wednesday, that a single case in Maine could place the state’s entire livestock industry, as well as the wild populations of moose and deer, in jeopardy.

In addition, if the disease continues to spread across Europe or appears in the United States, it could affect whether this summer’s agricultural fairs will be allowed to display animals, Ridky said.

“When you consider the alternative, it may be better to ban the animals than risk their destruction,” the state veterinarian said.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a severe, highly communicable viral disease of cattle and swine. It also affects sheep, goats, deer and other wild and domesticated, cloven-hoofed animals, including white-tailed deer and moose.

Since the first case was reported in England one month ago, 422 cases have been reported, and in an effort to halt its spread, 223,000 animals have been slaughtered, with 125,000 more marked for destruction.

Cases of foot-and-mouth disease were confirmed Wednesday in the Netherlands, the second country on the continent to have the disease. Cases also have been reported in France.

Foot-and-mouth disease is endemic in parts of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. Countries affected by foot-and-mouth disease in the past 12 months include Butan, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Georgia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Malawi, Malaysia, Mongolia, Namibia, Russia, South Africa, Taipei, Tajikistan, Uruguay and Zambia.

State Veterinarian Don Hoenig has been in England for two weeks, assisting with the effort to eradicate the disease there. His supervisor, Shelley Doak, director of the Animal Welfare Division of Maine’s Department of Agriculture, said Hoenig has been in contact with her and said the destruction he is witnessing is beyond words.

“He said he had been sitting in a kitchen of a sheep farmer, looking out a window, watching the fires burn,” said Doak. Animals suspected of having foot-and-mouth disease or that have been exposed to the virus are shot and their carcasses burned.

“He said that we can only read about this, but to actually see the horrible fires and the devastation is unbelievable,” Doak said of Hoenig’s experience. “Even more than that, he said the human toll is unbearable.”

Already, precautions are being taken at farms open to the public.

International commercial and private flights into Portland and Bangor are being carefully inspected by agricultural inspectors with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to Ridky.

Although people are not susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease, they can carry the virus in their nostrils for five to 10 days, said Ridky, as well as on their clothing, boots and products.

“On the international flights, inspectors are double bagging all trash and incinerating it as hazardous waste,” said Ridky. Anyone disembarking from an international flight also has to have his shoes disinfected, he said.

Maine travelers to the United Kingdom, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are being encouraged to avoid farms, stockyards, zoos, fairs and other animal facilities.

Doak said the Maine Department of Agriculture was printing biosecurity posters Wednesday for distribution to all Maine farms. The posters direct visitors who have been overseas in the past two weeks to see the farm manager.

Doak also sent out a letter Wednesday to the 71 maple syrup producers who annually participate in Maine Maple Sunday, informing them of the dangers of visitors and suggesting they also post their farms.

“At the same time that this is frightening,” said Doak, “I am encouraged and excited by the tremendous cooperation between state agencies.” She said state officials are working cooperatively with other states, particularly the other New England states, and with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“The result will be, I am confident, that if foot-and-mouth comes, we will be prepared in Maine,” said Doak.

Ridky said visual images from England of masses of cow carcasses being burned to halt the spread of the disease have Maine’s agriculture community very concerned.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, this disease is a 10,” said Ridky.

Foot-and-mouth disease has not been found in the United States since 1929. It is one of the most difficult of animal infections to control, said Ridky, and in England, the economic effect of the disease has been catastrophic to the livestock industry.

C.J. Walke is the farm manager of Kelmscott Farm in Lincolnville, which nurtures more than 200 rare and endangered head of livestock.

Walke said Wednesday that he is posting the farm to warn international visitors, but that in the winter months, only members of the Kelmscott Rare Breeds Foundation usually visit the farm.

“Most of our international visitors come in the summer,” he said. Walke also said that he would attend a weekend meeting for farms that are open to the public to discuss possible strategies for this summer.

“We are definitely paying attention to this,” said Walke.

According to Spear, the task force will include livestock industry representatives, state and federal government officials and University of Maine Extension staff.

The group will be charged with thoroughly reviewing the practices, processes and laws currently in place, as well as developing current information and recommending a policy manual.

Information on foot-and-mouth disease also can be found on the agriculture department’s Web site, www.state.me.us/agriculture.