This is a very nasty disease which destroys/damages nervous tissue, transmitted by a particular prion. It can only be passed on by ingesting the prions, and is not very contagious even then.
However, due to the seriousness of the disease, the risk cannot be taken, and therefore every cow in the UK that may have been at risk at any time during it's life was destroyed.

As far as I am aware, most other European countries have not taken this precaution, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they haven't.

A Prion is a normal protein which has folded in a different way to the 'normal' method of protein folding for that particualr sequence of amino acids. They 'reproduce' by causing all other proteins with the same amino acid sequence to refold into the prion folding. Incidentally, not all prions are bad!

'Foot and Mouth' is a mild disease which causes hoof damage and mouth infection.
It does not kill anything, and the bovine version cannot be transmitted to any other animals save pigs and sheep AFAIK.
It most definately cannot be transmitted to humans.
It therefore makes no sense whatsoever to do anything about foot and mouth at all. If the disease was completely ignored, then it would pretty much disappear as all cows, sheep and pigs would become immune to it without intervention.

The reason so much fuss was made was because the governments of European countries don't understand biology, and therefore refused to accept any British meat until the country was demonstrably free of the disease.

The current Labour government then completely fluffed the handling of the disease containment and cleanup.

Further questions?