Foot and Mouth Disease

Dan Cattle, Features, This Land of Ours

Foot and Mouth
Cathy Isom asked after 86 years of being free of foot and mouth disease in the U.S., the big question still being asked, are we ready if it returns? There have been studies, saying that depopulation of livestock is the only effective way to cut foot and mouth losses.

Emergency vaccination would be of little help. According to a Kansas State University animal health economist, we find that emergency vaccination could be justified.

Their team of vets and animal disease experts have projected what the losses would be in an 8 state midwest U.S. area if foot and mouth disease were to hit cattle operations with a depopulation only so there’s no emergency vaccination. The cost would be roughly 180 billion dollars.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Read more on this from USDA/APHIS.