The outbreak is thought to have begun when meat was illegally importedinto the United Kingdom from a Far Eastern country where the disease is rife.

The meat then appears to have made its way into the human food chain through a restaurant in the British Northeast, ending up as catering waste that was subsequently fed to pigs. Apparently only about 100 farmers use this kind of pig swill. The restaurant waste was supposed to have been cooked long enough to kill possible disease-carrying agents, but some apparently slipped through.

This shows how a few people who choose to violate laws designed for our mutual good can affect thousands of other people—and indeed whole countries. We can all be held hostage to the shortsightedness and greed of others. Many people will lose their livelihoods because of the economic havoc wrought by this epidemic. The average British city dweller now suffers higher meat prices, and many have to drive for miles just to find a decent place to walk their dogs because so many wooded areas have been cordoned off to prevent the epidemic from spreading further.

Ideally we should all universally obey the laws. Even one person who holds the law in contempt can be the cause of problems for a whole nation. The classic biblical case is Achan. His sin got all of Israel in deep trouble with God (Joshua 7:1-26; 22:20).

In the world tomorrow, the age to come, the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9).Obedience to our Creator's laws will finally become universal.