Missouri Department of Agriculture to hold emergency response meetings
by Katie Maupin, posted Oct. 12, 2007
The foot and mouth disease outbreak in Europe has added emphasis to the Missouri Department of Agriculture plan to hold animal agriculture emergency planning and response meetings, which will train Missouri livestock producers how to react if such a situation would occur.
The meetings accompany a statewide effort to develop county response plans in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Agriculture. So far, more than 100 counties have conducted meetings to develop response plans and discuss the county’s role if such a plan was to be implemented. The purpose of these programs is to familiarize people with the process associated with a foreign animal disease or other serious foreign animal disease outbreaks and highlight how it would affect the community as a whole, according to Ray Wadley of the Missouri Department of Agriculture.
“It’s all about awareness,” Wadley said.
The recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Europe has caused concern amongst livestock producers; however, Scott Poock, MU extension veterinary medicine specialist, said the U.S. is prepared for such a catastrophe.
Poock said the U.S. is more prepared now after the foot and mouth disease outbreak in Europe in 2001. Since then, retired veterinarians have been put on call as a first line of defense in such an emergency situation, proactive meetings have been held for practicing veterinarians and groups meet regularly to assess the threat of such foreign diseases.
The Missouri Department of Agriculture and USDA currently employs 10 to 11 veterinarians in Missouri trained on foreign animal disease diagnosis. These veterinarians are known as foreign animal disease diagnosticians, or FADDs, and are supplied with emergency response trailers. The trailers allow them to respond to a potential outbreak within two to four hours, and they can remain at the site, lowering the risk of transmission.
If a case of foot and mouth disease is suspected, the state veterinarian or a veterinarian from the USDA is contacted and a foreign animal disease diagnostician is brought in to collect samples. These samples are then tested for the presence of the foot and mouth virus and results are available within 24 to 48 hours. If the samples come back positive, then the movement of livestock would stop, according to Craig Payne, MU extension veterinary medicine specialist.
With the movement of animals stopped, the economic impact of such an epidemic would be huge, especially in Missouri, a state that generates $5.7 billion in the agriculture industry. According to a Philip Paarlberg, a natural resource economist from Purdue University, the U.S. could lose $14 billion in farm income alone and there would be a 20 percent decline in consumer purchases if there was a foot and mouth disease outbreak.
As a producer, the most important thing you can do to protect yourself from such a situation is to practice biosecurity measures. Do not let anyone on your farm who has been in contact with or traveled to areas with diseases five days prior.
“In general, know who’s on your farm,” Poock said. “Use disinfectants and provide them with plastic boots. Keep records of who has been there and when.”
Poock also suggests you know the medical background of any animal you bring into your farm, and quarantine new animals for two to four weeks.
Foot and mouth disease is devastating because it causes sores on livestock’s hooves and mouths, in turn, causing lameness, weight loss and a dramatic decline in productivity. It is the most contagious disease known in livestock and spreads easily. All cloven hoofed animals, or animals with two parts to their hooves such as cattle, sheep and hogs, are susceptible to the disease. However, the disease that animals contract is not considered zoonotic, meaning it cannot be easily transferred to humans and it cannot be contracted through the food chain.
As with anything, the best line of defense is education. For further information about the upcoming animal agriculture emergency planning and response meetings, contact Ray Wadley, MDA, at 573-751-2539; Amy Luecke, MDA, at 573-526-2090; or Christine Splichal, SES, Inc., at 913-209-2597 or e-mail at csplichal@ses-corp.com.
