OK, so it's no laughing matter...

But we can laugh anyway. The Onion weekly infographic on America's response to hoof and mouth disease... the really frightening part is how close it is to reality. The Guardian ran an article in which a reporter went around to various touristed spots and asked passing Americans what they knew about the disease (also known as foot and mouth here); even offered them gas masks (if the masks were accepted, it was then revealed that it was a joke). My countrypersons responded brilliantly with answers like "it makes you walk funny".