Foot and Mouth Disease Epidemics: Crippling Economic Impact of its Emergence and Resurgence in the Disease-free and Developed Nations
Manoranjan Rout* and Jajati Keshari Mohapatra
ICAR-National Institute on Foot and Mouth Disease, International Centre for Foot and Mouth Disease, Bhubaneswar, Odisha (752 050), India
*Corresponding email: drmrout@gmail.com
Abstract
Foot and mouth disease (FMD) being highly contagious is one of the most important animal viral diseases in relation to economic impact throughout the globe. This fast-moving disease (FMD) was the first disease appearing on the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE) list A as well as the first disease for which the OIE had to establish an official list of disease-free countries. Such highly contagious and economic disease is capable of triggering huge magnitude of economic loss to the farming communities crippling the national economy as well. FMD is still endemic in many parts of the world, while eradicated in major developed nations. The disease outbreaks have often been re-emerged in certain developed nations along with some previously disease-free countries that reminded the global farming community of the disastrous economic consequences that an FMD outbreak could ensure. The present article highlights the impact of FMD in such developed countries and how it has shaken their economy within the span of the epidemic.
Keywords: FMD, Developed Nations, Economy, Animals.
Introduction
Epizootics/epidemics in domestic animals have historically inflicted widespread devastations in the farming communities. FMD took its appearance in animals since human being started livestock husbandry. During 19th century confusion between two highly infectious viral ailments like FMD and rinderpest/cattle plague was in place even though rinderpest was relatively more fatal than the earlier one. FMD was the disease occupying the first position on the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE) list A as well as the first disease for which OIE established an official list of disease-free countries and zones (OIE website). Owing to the rapid rate of spread and highly infectious nature, FMD is globally considered one of the most economically important animal diseases (Tadesse et al., 2020). Countries endemic to FMD as a whole contain three quarters of the world’s population (Robinson et al., 2011). Even toed animals of the order artiodactyla are susceptible to FMD. The disease though not fatal in adult animals, it substantially hampers their productivity.
The etiological agent is FMD virus (FMDV) that can be transmitted both directly and indirectly over sufficient distance through wind (Donaldson et al., 1982), for which FMD is also known as ‘fast moving disease’ (FMD). There are seven immunologically distinct serotypes of FMDV (O, A, C, Asia 1, SAT 1, SAT 2 and SAT 3) varying in their global distribution. The infection or vaccination with one serotype does not protect against the other. O and A FMDV serotypes have the widest distribution, serotypes SAT 1, 2 and 3 have their geographical limitation to African continent only, while serotype Asia 1 to Asia. Despite such territorial restriction in prevalence, transboundary spread of serotypes has been reported due to many factors. With this brief background, the present article highlights the shattering impact of FMD in certain developed and earlier disease-free countries and how tremendously it has shaken their economy within the span of the epidemic.
Global FMD Outbreaks
The year 2005-2006 has witnessed three incursions of FMD in countries declared free by the OIE, in Argentina caused by serotype O in February 2006, in Brazil by serotype O in September and October 2005 and Botswana by serotype SAT 2 in April 2006. The resurgence of different FMDV lineages of serotype Asia 1 in Asia (China and Vietnam) and Russia took place during the time. FMD epidemics occurred in the developed countries at different points of time e.g., United Kingdom in 2001 (Thompson et al., 2002), Japan in 2010 (Hayama et al., 2017) and South Korea in 2011 (Pendell and Cho, 2013) exemplifying the drastic impact that FMD couldinflict in its re-emergence in previously disease-free countries.
FMDV serotype Asia 1 though mostly circulates in South Asian countries, several earlier disease-free countries in central and far East Asia especially China have also been victimized. Disease outbreaks in far eastern Russia, Mongolia and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) were due to extension of outbreaks from China. The upsurge in incidence of FMD due to FMDV Asia 1 in China during 2004-2005 was due to its huge ruminant population. Globally most prevalent serotype O has been blamed for outbreaks in several disease-free countries namely Republic of Korea (2002), Japan (2000), United Kingdom (2001), France (2001) and the Netherlands (2001). During 2005, about 43 outbreaks due to serotype O were reported in south America and 2 due to serotype A in Brazil, Ecuador (serotype O) and Venezuela (serotype A). This FMD epidemic wave was mainly due to weaker herd immunity resultant to lower vaccination coverage coupled with a lack of focused disease surveillance and containment.
FMD in FMD-free Countries in Asia
Severe FMD epizootic with more than 800 outbreaks caused by the Cathay topotype (a geographically isolated genotype called a topotype) of porcinophillic serotype O as well as South-east Asia topotype O were reported in Vietnam. FMDV serotype Asia 1 causing outbreaks was also recorded in Vietnam but the strain had more predilection/tropism for cattle rather than pigs unlike the porcinophilic strain, while the lineage involved was quite different from the Asia 1 lineage reported in China. The serotype Asia 1 outbreaks were the result of unregulated movement of cattle and buffaloes from China and Cambodia.
Asian continent has been victimized with major FMD epidemics in countries that were previously disease-free e.g., Taiwan, Republic of Korea and Japan.
Taiwan
During 1997, Taiwan that had been free from FMD for 68 years, faced a devastating outbreak by serotype O virus (O/Taw/97) compelling for slaughter of 38% of the entire pig population (>4 million pigs) costing approximately U.S. $6 billion (Yang et al., 1997). More than 6000 farms having animals were infected. Consequent upon the outbreak, the pork export to Japan was banned triggering a loss of $1.6 billion. The financial cost of the epidemic was assessed at $379 million. A full stop on the trade estimated a loss of $15 billion for the country that drastically reduced the total GDP by 0.28% (Hsu et al., 2005). An element of surprise in the outbreak was the only involvement of pigs without affecting cattle or goats despite their presence in some infected farms. After two years another outbreak in 1999-2000 in Taiwan affected cattle and goats. Genome sequencing of the recovered virus isolates revealed that the O/Taw/99 virus was different from the O/Taw/97 strain.
South Korea
In South Korea, serotype O FMD outbreaks occurred in March 2000, May 2002 and April 2010, while in January 2010, serotype A outbreak was reported. March 2000 was memorable as a massive FMD outbreak due to O/SKR/2000 virus (closely related to O/Taw/99) struck the country that was free from the disease for last 66 years. In order to control the outbreak over 5 lakh animals mainly cattle were destroyed. Subsequent outbreaks during 2000-2010 drastically affected the South Korean red-meat export market (Pendell and Cho, 2013). The country in 2010 and 2011 again witnessed an outbreak leading to the destruction of 3.4 million livestock costing US$ 2.78 billion. The outbreak during November 2010 – April 2011 was caused by serotype O virus that compelled culling of 3.48 million animals including cattle and pigs.
Japan
Japan, free from FMD for 92 years suffered from the outbreak in the year 2000 (by O/JPN/2000 strain) as well as in 2010 (Muroga et al., 2012). The O/JPN/2000 strain was found to be in the same lineage as O/TAW/99 and O/SKR/2000 isolates of Taiwan and South Korea, respectively. Japan closed the imports from South Korea for more than 3 years. The 2010 FMD epidemic caused a direct loss of 51.2 billion Japanese yen (JPY) to the livestock industry affecting indirect cost of JPY 25.5 billion to related industries. The expenditure of JPY 8.2 billion was used towards disease control activities. The estimated total loss due to the 2010 epidemic was about JPY 85 billion (Hayama et al., 2017).
FMD in European Continent
The United Kingdom
Three major epidemics of FMD were reported in the UK costing a lot to the nation.
The 1967 Epidemic
Britain experienced the severe FMD epidemic with 2228 outbreaks over a span of 9-month period during 1967-68 due to pig swill contaminated with infected lamb resulting in the slaughter of nearly 450,000 animals. The epidemic was mostly restricted to cattle.
The 2001 Epidemic
Despite being free from FMD for more than 30 years, the United Kingdom experienced a severe FMD outbreak on 19th February 2001 suspected in pigs in abattoir of Essex identified as serotype O PanAsia O/UK/2001 lasting for 214 days. This was the first outbreak of FMD in the UK since the 1981 epidemic on the Isle of Wight. Subsequent epidemiological analysis determined that minimum 57 premises have already been infected when the first case was identified (Scudamore, 2002). The first infected pigs reported were earlier infected with FMDV upon arrival at the abattoir. Delay in disease reporting in Northumberland allowed sheep to be infected on nearby farms without any clinical symptoms as usual in the species. The frequent movement of sheep over larger area around the UK led to the severity of the outbreak. The outbreak triggered a culling campaign with slaughter of over 6 million animals (about 7% of all UK cattle and 15% of all sheep) (Rushton et al., 2002) with an estimated impact of $11.9-$18.4 billion including $4.8 billion in losses to agriculture, food industry and public sector, $4.2-$4.9 billion in lost tourism, and $2.9-$3.4 billion in indirect losses. The government had to pay compensation of about US $4.2 billion to the agriculture and food chain industry. The epidemic also led to a 67% reduction in red meat exports during that year and a 45% reduction in the exports in 2002 (Oladosu et al., 2013).
The disease was further spread to Ireland, France and the Netherlands. On 21st March FMD was confirmed in the Netherlands. The disease was introduced by calves that had become infected in France where infected sheep from the United Kingdom were present. Soon after, the disease occurrence in other farms, the country opted for slaughter of all vaccinated animals (around 200,000). The 2001 UK outbreak has witnessed for the first time the mathematically based computer models in management of the outbreak.
The 2007 Epidemic
The UK 2007 outbreak involved eight farms costing the government GB£47 million and industry GB£100 million totaling to US$300 million (Anderson, 2008).
FMD in the United States of America
FMD had its first report in the US in 1870, after which eight additional outbreaks were recorded with the last one in California during 1929. The country then has been free from FMD since 1929. In 1914, US had its most devastating FMD outbreak in Michigan that spread to the Chicago by 1915. The disease spread to 22 states destroying 172,000 animals (McCauley et al., 1979).
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