Foot and mouth disease in the Lao People's Democratic Republic: I. A review of recent outbreaks and lessons from control programmes

Abstract

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) causes sporadic disease outbreaks in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). As the Lao PDR is a major thoroughfare for transboundary animal movements, regular FMD outbreaks occur, causing economic hardship for farmers and their families. In this review of the recent history of FMD in the Lao PDR between 1997 and 2006, the authors examine the virological and epidemiological aspects of the disease and appropriate control measures, including the distribution of outbreaks, causative serotypes and the molecular epidemiology of the viruses, as well as large-scale vaccination programmes. The dominant serotype, type O, was reported every year from 1998 to 2005. The majority of outbreaks occurred in Vientiane Capital (n = 42; 28%) and the highest number of outbreaks were reported in cattle (n = 94; 61%); followed by buffalo (n = 41; 27%) and pigs (n = 18; 12%). All type A outbreaks occurred in cattle. Type Asia 1 outbreaks were reported in the central provinces around Vientiane Capital between 1996 and 1998.

Epidemiology of foot and mouth disease in Karnataka state, India: a retrospective study

“…In this study, livestock density was found to be positively correlated with disease incidence and number of cases for all the agroclimatic zones. Similar findings have been reported in countries and states with similar livestock management systems [8,19]. Hence, it would be necessary to prioritize disease control activities in zones with high livestock populations to optimize the use of resources.…”

“…Progressive risk reduction of FMD can help in progressive market access of livestock commodities. However, the success of any disease control program depends on a clear understanding of the epidemiology of the disease, especially the analysis of the distribution and patterns of spread [2,3,8,12,19]. In India, FMD was first documented in 1864 during extensive outbreaks in many parts of the country (Government of India 1868).…”

“…The highest number of districts with outbreaks was in 2007-08 (n = 27) and 2005-06 (n = 26). There was a significant difference in the number of districts Retrospective studies, based on the analysis of available data and passive surveillance have contributed greatly to the understanding of the epidemiology of FMD in other states of India [3,15,19] and in other endemic countries such as Bhutan [7], Laos [8], and Mali [14]. This report is the first to describe the status of FMD in the state of Karnataka, India.…”

Efficacy of Expired Foot-and-mouth Disease O Type Vaccines in Cattle and Buffalo in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

“…This study demonstrated that the FMD DIVA test differentiated well between FMD-infected and vaccinated animals using the serum samples from both cattle and buffalo in the field. Despite a lack of official reports of FMD outbreaks at the selected study sites, FMD is considered to be widely endemic in Lao PDR (Blacksell et al 2008, Khounsy et al 2008, Khounsy et al 2009, Rast et al 2010. Major outbreaks and vaccinations were reported in the Pek district of XK province in 2009 (Nampanya et al 2013, Rast et al 2010.…”

“…Although vaccination is a key control strategy in managing FMD outbreaks (Nampanya et al 2013), it is not widely employed in mainland Southeast Asia due to the cost involved (Gleeson 2002). To address this financial problem, projects focusing on vaccine donation have been implemented in an effort to control the spread of FMD in mainland Southeast Asia, by international organizations such as the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) (Khounsy et al 2008). In 2012, Lao PDR made a request under this system to the Government of Japan for 200,000 doses of expired FMD O type vaccines, which were being stored by Japan for emergency use.…”