Prepare for FMD before disease hits the U.S.

AMES, Iowa — If foot-and-mouth disease infects U.S. livestock herds, market disruption will be significant.

“Foot-and-mouth disease is going to be a bigger disaster when it comes to market disruptions than what we face with COVID-19,” said Danelle Bickett-Weddle, associate director of the Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa State University.

“Foot-and-mouth disease is considered the most contagious disease that prevents the trade of animals and animal products,” Bickett-Weddle said during a presentation at the Driftless Region Beef Conference, organized by University of Illinois Extension, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension.

FMD is a disease of cloven-hoofed animals that includes cattle, sheep, pigs and goats.

“It is not a public health or food safety concern,” Bickett-Weddle said during the virtual event.

Although FMD has not been in the United States since 1929, Bickett-Weddle said, the disease is in two-thirds of the world.

“We know diseases move, so we need to make sure we’re doing things now to protect our cattle,” she said.

Secure Food Supply Plans have been developed to help livestock producers prepare for a disease outbreak.

“The overall goal of secure food supply planning is to increase the likelihood of business continuity and contingency planning for the future,” Bickett-Weddle said.

Many resources are available at the website: www.securebeef.org.

“Participation in the plans is voluntary, but they provide things you can do now to help position yourself if this disease comes into the U.S.,” Bickett-Weddle said.

“If FMD is diagnosed in the U.S., the U.S. Department of Agriculture has response plans that include immediate movement restrictions for animals and their products that might pose a risk of disease spread,” she said.

A Complete Stop

With a diagnosis of FMD anywhere in the United States, Bickett-Weddle said, there will be a national movement standstill put into place for 72 hours of susceptible species and then control areas will be established.

“If your farm is in the control area but not infected with the disease, that’s where the secure food supply plan comes into play and there are plans for all the species impacted by FMD,” she said. “In the plan, there’s a document that talks about how to manage movement during a FMD outbreak.”

Those livestock producers located in the control area will only be able to move livestock by permit, and traceability information will be important.

“Make sure you get a premise ID so the state veterinarian knows where animals are located,” Bickett-Weddle said. “If you have a premise ID, make sure your information is up to date.”

An input/output document is one of the many resources available in the plan.

“There is a lot of value in doing some of this ahead of time,” Bickett-Weddle said. “It looks at what you need to move and how often you need to move it, which helps you plan your future movements.”

Enhanced biosecurity will be vital during a FMD outbreak. Livestock farms should establish a line of separation or boundary to protect cattle from any type of exposure to the disease.

“Only animals with no exposure and no signs of clinical infection will be eligible to move,” Bickett-Weddle said.

If a truck needs to cross a line of separation, it is recommended cleaning and disinfecting occurs.

“But it’s really complicated to clean and disinfect well, so we want to make cleaning and disinfecting the exception not the rule,” Bickett-Weddle said.

“The FMD vaccine is the most used vaccine worldwide, but we don’t vaccinate for FMD in the U.S.,” she said. “We enjoy trade as FMD-free without vaccination country and if we were to vaccinate that changes our status with other countries.”

Bank On It

Vaccination for FMD is not an easy decision, Bickett-Weddle said.

“The USDA chief veterinary officer will make the decision and work with state veterinarians because somebody has to oversee the injections,” she said. “Individual animal ID will be needed to trace the animals through death.”

To be able to move back to the highest status of FMD free without vaccination, it must be documented that all vaccinated animals are no longer in the nation’s herd.

The North American FMD Bank stores FMD vaccine, and along with the United States it is shared with Canada and Mexico.

“It can make 2.5 million doses and we’ll get 250,000 doses during the first four to seven days and then the rest comes in batches,” Bickett-Weddle said. “The vaccine production is a long time because we have to grow it, so we’re looking at 14 weeks before we can get more.”

Through funding included in the farm bill, Bickett-Weddle said, a U.S. Bank has been established.

“It does not replace the North American Bank — it is in addition to it,” she said. “There is about $25 million to procure more vaccine antigen concentrate if we ever need it.”

“None of this is fast or easy, so that’s why enhanced biosecurity is so important to make sure animals don’t get exposed to FMD,” Bickett-Weddle said.