The university should be complimented for cancelling a Study Abroad trip to the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The Food, Agriculture and Environmental Systems program that was to be held this summer was temporarily canceled because of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Europe. There are about 30 students signed up for the program.

MSU officials said they are seeking an alternative location so the program will not have to be permanently canceled.

Foot-and-mouth is a highly contagious viral disease spread through direct or indirect contact. It can be spread by air, in contaminated animal by-products and equipment or through third-party contact.

Stricken animals develop blisters, fever and lameness. Pregnant animals may miscarry and dairy cattle may dry up. It is fatal to very young animals, but not harmful to humans. There has been only one recorded case of a human with foot-and-mouth in Britain.

The epidemic also forced a student from MSU’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to return from a program. The unidentified student was studying at the Greenmount College of Agriculture and Horticulture in Northern Ireland. The disease infected the animals at the school and the campus was closed, leaving students with nothing to do.

To help curb the disease, British officials have called for a mass slaughter of both infected and healthy animals within two miles of infected sites in the worst-affected areas. Economists estimate the disease could cost the United Kingdom $13 billion in lost agriculture and tourism.

It’s a shame the students who have signed up for this program may not be able to go, but the cancellation is the best move the university could have made. Bringing the disease into the United States could be devastating and reverse decades of work it took to eradicate it here. The risk of spreading the disease outweighs the benefits gained from the summer program.

An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the country would also hurt the university. Being that this is an agriculture-based school, the possibility of having to destroy a massive amount of livestock would be devastating to many university programs.

This cancellation is also helping to protect students. Although the risk of foot-and-mouth to humans is minimal, there still is the possibility of a student getting sick. This decision also protects students in the program who have family farms; bringing back the disease could hurt their families.

However, the university should make strong efforts to find an alternative location for the program. The students who signed up for the class are owed the opportunity they expected and paid for. If another location cannot be found, the university should look into providing a comparable program on or near MSU facilities.

The university should do everything it can to keep the program from being permanently canceled. However, its decision to cancel the program is in the best interest of the university and the participating students.