A case of foot in mouth?

Peter Wilby writing in today's Media Guardian has some harsh words about the press' coverage of the foot and mouth outbreak.

Suggesting that the coverage was rather inflated he says

I've always been amazed by how the press gets so excited about foot and mouth disease. Farming accounts for 1% of the economy and barely 2% of the workforce. Genuine farmers - family-run businesses that could truly face ruin - are far outnumbered by agri-conglomerates and TV producers tending to a few sheep at weekends.

Adding that

the press has no interest in calming us down, particularly when it's August and there's little else on the news schedules. A foot and mouth outbreak has the perfect news ingredients,

and pointing out that

The papers scream about a "deadly virus" on the loose, but it isn't even that. Foot and mouth rarely kills animals and only one human in Britain has ever contracted the disease. It is essentially an economic sickness, because it affects animals' weight and milk yield and, as the Daily Telegraph put it, a cow's value is "permanently reduced".

I think that Peter is being a little harsh here,farming does affect our lives and the consequences of the last outbreak gave a big blow to the country.It has seemingly now turned into an isolated incident,which with the aid of hindsight maks the coverage seem extreme now.