Skip to main content
Utah's Foremost Platform for Undergraduate Research Presentation
2014 Abstracts

Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine: Technical and Political Challenges to Vaccine-based Eradication

Anthony Bennett, Brigham Young University

Engineering

Foot Mouth Disease is considered to be the greatest hindrance to livestock trade in the world. The disease is extremely contagious and can transmit via aerosol, food scraps, and through blood, and tears among other transmission routes [1]. Currently, technological challenges hinder eradication efforts due to a wide variety of FMD strains, high vaccine production costs, as well as limited efficacy of vaccines across strains [2]. The countries most affected by the disease also face economic, social, and political challenges to disease eradication. Based upon historical evidence disease eradication has proven to be possible as shown in the US, the UK, and other countries [3]. In this presentation, we highlight these challenges and propose various routes to eradication in order to open up economic opportunities to developing countries as well as eliminating the threat of a disease outbreak in countries currently free of the disease.

  1. Morgan, E.R., et al., Assessing risks of disease transmission between wildlife and livestock: The Saiga antelope as a case study. Biological Conservation, 2006. 131(2): p. 244-254.
  2. Parida, S., Vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease virus: strategies and effectiveness. 2009.
  3. Perry, B. and K. Sones, Poverty reduction through animal health. Science, 2007. 315.