The world knows how quickly a virus can spread, as COVID-19 extends its tendrils throughout the globe. The coronavirus epidemic reminds U.S. livestock producers how critical it is to have a vaccine bank in advance of a foreign animal disease (FAD) threat like foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). While FMD is not zoonotic (it impacts cloven-hooved animals only), its economic impact would be significant if it were to hit the U.S. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations, “the global annual cost of FMD in terms of production losses and the need for prevention by vaccination has been estimated to be approximately $5 billion. In a severe event in 2001 in the United Kingdom, the direct and indirect impacts are estimated to have cost as much as $30 billion.”
Getting the ball rolling
The 2018 Farm Bill established the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP), which allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to enter into cooperative agreements with states, universities, industry, and other entities on projects and research to advance animal health. It further established the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank (NAVVCB) to maintain sufficient quantities of vaccine and other countermeasures to help address an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or other high consequence foreign animal disease. In addition, it reauthorized the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) with authorized appropriations of $30 million per year.
On March 30, APHIS announced that it had established a consultation board to assist the agency with implementation of the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program. The consultation board will recommend annual funding priorities, provide input to improve program policies and processes, nominate experts to review and rank funding proposals, and make recommendations for the program’s annual spending plan. Read more about who will serve on that board here.
Call to action
Response to a FAD often includes mass depopulation of animals, but the USDA FAD PReP plan for FMD is contingent on vaccination for all but the smallest, localized outbreak. Unfortunately, the U.S. currently does not have access to enough FMD vaccine to handle more than a very small, localized disease event, said members of USAHA, an organization made up of leaders from government, industry and academia working alongside producers.
According to the USAHA Committee on Animal Emergency Management, “Worldwide vaccine production is limited, and there is no surge capacity to produce the millions of doses needed to address a large-scale outbreak in the U.S. The cumulative impact of an outbreak on the U.S. beef and pork sectors over a 10-year period would be more than $128 billion. The annual jobs impact of such reduction in industry revenue is 58,066 in direct employment and 153,876 in total employment. Corn and soybean farmers would lose $44 billion and nearly $25 billion, respectively, making the impact on these four industries alone almost $200 billion. A workable FMD vaccine bank can minimize the impact on the U.S. economy and reduce government costs of a catastrophic FMD outbreak in the U.S.”
As a result, the organization passed the following resolution: “USAHA urges USDA and state animal health authorities to support a total of $92 million for the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank (NAVVCB), with a minimum of $20 million for each of the first four years and $12 million in the fifth year, of the funding established in the 2018 Farm Bill to provide adequate number of doses of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine and surge capacity. This $92 million for NAVVCB is to include a reasonable stockpile of foreign animal disease testing kits/reagents needed for outbreak response.
“Additionally, the 2018 Farm Bill prevention funding the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP) should not be used to fund current USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) activities with the states nor should it inhibit full appropriation of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network laboratory authorization within USDA, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative and APHIS budgets.”
Progress being made
In January this year, APHIS announced the progress it’s making to implement programs funded by the 2018 Farm Bill, including moving forward with developing a Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccine Bank. A number of USAHA members have held the vaccine bank as a priority issue, including the National Pork Producers Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, among others.
Specifically, APHIS announced that it is awarding $10.2 million to support disease prevention and emergency response training. As part of this funding, APHIS is moving forward with developing the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank. The first priority of the bank is to increase the U.S. stockpile of FMD vaccines.
APHIS is also issuing a request for proposals and plans to have the initial FMD vaccine contracts in place by the end of the second quarter of FY2020, and the agency’s goal is to invest between $15 million and $30 million on the vaccine by the end of this year.
Sarah Tomlinson, DVM associate deputy administration of USDA APHIS Veterinary Services, has said 2020 will bring ‘great strides” in developing an FMD vaccine bank.
Members of USAHA and industry welcome these advances.
“U.S. pork producers and other farmers are currently faced with a wide range of challenges,” said NPPC Chief Veterinarian Liz Wagstrom, DVM. “A solution for FMD preparedness is in our grasp. We urge USDA to move as quickly as possible to establish the bank.”
Marty Zaluski, DVM, State Veterinarian for the Montana Department of Livestock and USAHA president, agrees. “We are fortunate within USAHA to have such a unique cross-section of people who work together to protect and improve the health of the U.S. livestock industry. Our work on the vaccine bank is just one example of the many initiatives USAHA has supported.”
Complete resolutions with background information can be found at https://www.usaha.org/usaha-resolutions. The USAHA covers topics ranging from zoonotic diseases, to regulations, to specific diseases in cattle, horses, sheep, cervids, poultry and pigs, and much more. Leaders from government, industry and academia work alongside producers to find solutions to health issues that can help animal agriculture thrive.
More from Farm Journal:
Diseased Vs. Infected: Why the Difference Matters
“Business as Usual” For Farm Despite Worldwide Coronavirus Pandemic
What Can PRRS and PEDV Teach Us About COVID-19?
Read original article: https://cattlemensharrison.com/foot-and-mouth-disease-preparedness-is-high-priority/
By: Drovers