ANIMAL DISEASE PREVENTION – FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE (FMD)

NCBA Staff Contact: 
Dr. Elizabeth Parker, Chief Veterinarian
202-347-0228
eparker@beef.org

Summary:

NCBA continues to actively participate in efforts to ensure every effort is taken to prevent the introduction of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) into the United States. In addition, we must have adequate disease detection, response and recovery plans in place to respond if the disease were introduced. The introduction of this foreign animal disease into the United States would devastate cattle populations, as well as domestic and international beef demand.

Background:

There are only 3 of 7 continents in the world that do not currently have active cases of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). These continents include North America, Australia and Antarctica.

With the formation of the Department of Homeland Security, NCBA is closely monitoring the agency’s organization and development to ensure it will operate in a manner that will help ensure foreign animal diseases, such as FMD are not introduced into the United States. In addition to working with the Department of Homeland Security, NCBA continues to work with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to ensure our borders are protected from all various foreign animal diseases.

NCBA continually works with the Appropriations Committees to ensure that all agencies are fully funded, and supports full enforcement of all existing regulations to ensure the safety and protection of the U.S. cattle herd.

Key Points:

·         The United States has not had an outbreak since 1929. This is the direct result of an aggressive strategy of excluding agricultural products that could carry the disease and regulating production practices, such garbage feeding, which could spread the disease.

·         We also maintain a domestic surveillance program to help ensure early detection of FMD should it be introduced. The federal government continues to develop and test their FMD response capacity as well as to develop producer indemnity programs to offset the economic impact of the disease should it occur.

·         NCBA has visited and carefully reviewed risk analysis documents relative to countries with FMD to ensure that we understand how to prevent introduction and respond in the unlikely event the virus is introduced into the U.S.