With the presence of mad cow disease and recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in England, state agricultural authorities and farmers have been taking preventative measures so the same problems do not occur in Pennsylvania.

In a news release last week, John Enck, Pennsylvania's state veterinarian, and State Agriculture Secretary Samuel E. Hayes Jr. stressed the importance of bio-security, a management practice designed to avoid harmful diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease from infecting animals.

"Everyone is on the alert, but so far, nothing has happened," said Wilson Smeltz, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.

Although there is a lack of threat for mad cow disease to appear in the U.S., foot-and-mouth disease is a concern, he said.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious virus that infects cattle, swine, sheep, goats and other cloven-hoofed animals, according to Penn State's Department of Veterinary Science.

"With foot-and-mouth disease, things happen at lightning speed," said Dave Griswold, extension veterinarian in the department of veterinary science.

While foot-and-mouth disease is not a human health concern, human clothing, shoes and respiratory tracts can still spread it. For these reasons, U.S. airports have been monitoring people who travel in and out of the country, Griswold said.

Animals infected with the disease develop blisters on their hooves or mouths that may lead to the animal becoming lame, shedding its hooves and having difficulty eating. Animals also experience weight loss and a decrease in milk production, thus harming farmers' businesses.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease, has been another concern of farmers.

Originating in Great Britain, the disease possesses symptoms of pathological changes in the brain causing nervous system tissue to appear like a sponge, according to Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

Despite England's contact with the disease, the United States has taken precautions anticipating against a mad cow crisis.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) pays attention to substances that carry the disease and products that come from countries where the disease is prevalent, Griswold said.

The disease takes years to develop in an animal, illustrating another reason why the mad cow disease should not cause anxiety with farmers and consumers in the U.S., he added.

Despite consumer concern, neither disease has detrimental effects on human condition.

"I think people have the misconception that they can get it," Griswold said.

However, with mad cow disease, only one or two cases per one million people are reported each year.

When people experience foot-and-mouth disease, they may encounter flu symptoms and some blisters. However, it is also very rare. There has been only one recorded case in Britain in 1966, according to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the USDA.

People need to have a great amount of exposure to it in order to be infected, Griswold said.

Nonetheless, local farmers still take precautions regarding outside materials and visitors.

At Musser Farm in Bellefonte, people are not alarmed by the foot-and-mouth situation because bio-security is enforced.

"All animals on our farm are raised on our farm," said Rod Musser, partner of Musser Farm.

They have also kept track of the feed given to their livestock, went over past records and avoided bringing in livestock from other countries to insure foot-and-mouth would not be an obstacle.

These steps taken by Musser are the safety measures that Pennsylvania has been trying to promote to its farmers.

"If you have an animal operation, it is good to practice (strict) bio-security," Smeltz said.