In the event of a foreign disease outbreak, livestock producers need to be prepared. Resources have been created by industry experts for those raising food animals, including beef and dairy cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. Knowledge and preparedness can help livestock producers across the U.S. develop and put contingency plans in place for their individual operations. These guidelines can be found at securefoodsupply.org, as well as additional species-specific websites.
“The Secure Beef Supply plan has been developed for cattle producers to prepare them and help them in efforts to protect their livestock against foreign animal disease outbreaks, specifically Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD),” says Meranda Small, Idaho State BQA Coordinator, who presented this information at the Idaho Cattle Association Annual meeting. “Producers have a role to play in helping be prepared for an outbreak.”
“FMD, while harmless to us as human beings, causes blisters and animals with cloven-hooved, which includes cattle, pigs, sheep and goats,” Small says. “It also has the ability to impact and equally affect wildlife species such as deer, elk and bison, giving them the opportunity to move the disease across state lines and from one location to another.”
Sergio Arispe serves as an Oregon State University Extension livestock and rangeland field faculty and associate professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences. He also serves as the lead for the Secure Beef Supply project to mitigate risks of a foreign disease outbreak.
“The purpose of traceability is for transparency, not only within the livestock industry, but with our trade partners as well,” Arispe says, who also presented at the ICA meeting. “Movement permits demonstrate that steps have been taken to safely move animals or products.”
Arispe says it’s important for producers to be knowledgeable and prepared if and when an outbreak might occur. Producers can create a five-step contingency document, which addresses cattle inventory and potential movement, financial planning, enhanced biosecurity, communication and cattle health management.
“At any given time there are about 3 million animals on our highways, or in our planes or boats,” Arispe says. “There will be at least a 72-hour national standstill declared by the USDA for all cloven-hoofed animals if foot-and-mouth disease is ever found in the U.S. A lot of producers don’t know that, and that’s only the beginning.”
According to Small, stamping out or depopulation is one control method that is used by animal health officials to stop disease spread. This method was used by the UK during their 2001 outbreak. Additional control methods include stopping both domestic movement of animals and animal products for a period of time. Exports of animals with clinical signs would also stop. Emergency vaccination would be considered, but also has export implications.
“The first goal is always to identify disease as fast as possible, put the controls in place to limit the spread, and stop the virus without having to implement vaccination,” explains Idaho State Veterinarian Scott Leibsle, who was on hand to answer audience questions. “You can still achieve the highest level of trade status, which is free from the disease without having to vaccinate for it. If you have to start vaccinating for it, then that lowers the trade status of any nation. There are countries that are free from FMD, but they’re still having to vaccinate for it and we don’t accept trade from any of those countries that vaccinate for foot and mouth disease.”
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