FMD future: vaccines or funeral pyres?

Millions of animals could be needlessly slaughtered and billions of dollars lost from economies, unless the world backs an international science team to develop new tools to fight foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

A group of world-leading researchers aims to develop a more effective FMD vaccine and better diagnostic tests that would enable livestock disease control agencies to isolate and eventually eliminate the disease. The team of scientists from the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, and Australia, are leading a call for international support for a bold five-year research project.

“Foot-and-mouth disease is a global problem and it requires a global solution,” says project leader, Dr Martyn Jeggo, Director of CSIRO Livestock Industries’ Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL). “Most countries probably can’t afford the burden of funding the necessary research, but the world cannot afford to sit back and do nothing. That’s why we shall call on international donors for support.”

“We have the scientific capabilities and commitment to successfully deliver this project. What is needed is a commitment by the international community to fund the work, which we estimate will cost US$60 million. This is a paltry sum compared to the approximate US$12 billion cost of the 2001 FMD outbreak in the UK.”

With members drawn from AAHL, the UK’s Institute for Animal Health at Pirbright, the United States’ Plum Island Animal Disease Center, and Canada’s National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease, the team features some of the world’s leading experts in the development of FMD vaccines and diagnostic tests.

Dr David Paton from the Institute for Animal Health says currently available FMD vaccines can protect animals from becoming sick but not from becoming infected with the virus. In addition they require several days to confer protection.

“In five years we aim to deliver more effective FMD vaccines and sophisticated diagnostic tests which will ensure a longer duration of immunity and that vaccinated animals are not confused with infected animals,” Dr Paton says. “Vaccination would then become a more acceptable option for control of an outbreak in traditionally disease-free areas, like Europe. “This would mean that, instead of having to slaughter millions of animals simply because they are suspected of being infected, a vaccination program could be an alternative method of controlling the spread of the disease.”

Dr Paul Kitching of Canada’s National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease says it is “almost inevitable” that there will be future outbreaks of FMD in industrialised countries such as the UK, Canada, US, Australia or New Zealand. “For a relatively small investment, the international community could dramatically improve its capacity to deal with the scourge of FMD,” he says.

Dr Paton continues, “Ultimately our aim has got to be better control of FMD in those parts of the world where the disease remains endemic. The Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme is a success story that could be copied in the case of FMD. Total rinderpest eradication is now in sight. Whilst there are a number of factors that have been critical to this success, the availability of diagnostics and a vaccine able to confer life-long immunity, has been of crucial importance,” he says.

Dr Tom McKenna of the Plum Island Animal Disease Centre in the US says field-testing of candidate vaccines developed by the research team could then take place in collaboration with countries presently infected with FMD. This would occur in consultation with National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), including Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, South Africa, PanAftosa, South America, and Pakchong Laboratory, Thailand.