The upshot is that the programme of culling that the government embarked on was probably more aggressive than it needed to be, and that a system of quick detection and isolation of unwell animals might have been sufficient to keep the disease in check.

ECONOMIST: Foot-and-mouth disease

Small wonder he was motivated to gamble: a quick cost-benefit calculation would have told him the chances of detection were slight compared with the bounties available.

CNN: Opinion: It's time to allow doping in sport