in response to FMD threat
In March, state agriculture officials held their breath, awaiting word in two cases that would determine if North Carolina would become the first in the United States with a case of foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease in more than 70 years.
Though tests on hogs suspected of having the dreaded livestock disease were negative, administrators in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences had already begun to discuss the possibility of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak — and how to prevent the disease from striking here and what to do if it did.
“The false alarm gave us the opportunity to improve communication, networks and collaboration in the event of an FMD outbreak,” said Dr. Edwin Jones, N.C. Cooperative Extension associate state program leader for natural resources and community and rural development. “We recognize that there were issues to be addressed, and we’re working to provide a more immediate response to those affected should an outbreak occur.”
Foot-and-mouth disease, which has hit livestock hard in the United Kingdom since February, strikes cloven-hooved animals such as cows, pigs, sheep and goats. Hundreds of thousands of the U.K.’s livestock were slaughtered and burned in an effort to stop the spread of the disease. Cases also have been reported in European Union countries, as well as South America.
Though the disease itself usually does not kill infected animals, it causes them to produce less meat and milk, rendering them economically useless. Blisters that form on the mouth and feet of infected animals make eating, drinking and locomotion painful. The disease does not infect humans, but it can be spread on human clothing, shoes or through respiration. It can travel by wind up to 40 miles.
To prevent the spread of FMD, countries may severely restrict the importation of meat products of species susceptible to the disease.
College representatives have been meeting with others from the state veterinarian’s office, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and researchers from N.C. State’s College of Veterinary Medicine to develop recommendations to increase public awareness of FMD and communicate proper biosecurity measures for livestock producers and others who work with livestock.
Since then, the College has established an ongoing work group to serve as a clearinghouse and review point for related policy statements and to educate the College and others about FMD. The group includes administrators from Cooperative Extension and the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, plus faculty members from the departments of Animal Science, Communication Services, Poultry Science, Food Science and Family and Consumer Sciences. Representatives from the College of Veterinary Medicine and North Carolina A&T State University also participate.
Cooperative Extension issued guidelines for livestock shows and for how Extension agents should respond if a livestock operator calls about a suspected case of FMD.
“Agents are encouraged to ask enough questions to determine if the disease is a possibility,” Jones said.
But agents are urged not to visit a farm to check for the disease themselves. That responsibility lies with the state veterinarian’s office. If agents visit a farm where an FMD outbreak occurs, their access to other farm operations would be severely restricted for a period of at least 14 days, preventing them from educating other farmers about disease prevention, Jones said.
To keep College campus and field faculty informed, the Department of Communication Services has established a Web site with the recommendations and other information regarding FMD. The Web site address is: http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/fmd/.
Extension agents are not required to cancel youth livestock competitions already scheduled, but to use such events as opportunities for education about FMD, how it is spread and how to prevent its introduction. Participants and spectators are to be asked if they have traveled within 14 days to a country where FMD is a problem and to excuse themselves from participation if they have.
Also, competition participants are encouraged not to return livestock to their herds but to send the animals directly to market. If breeding animals must be returned to the farm, Extension suggests that the animals be separated from herds for at least 14 days, Jones said.
Administrators in the College’s N.C. Agricultural Research Service have issued recommendations regarding events where livestock may be exposed to the public. Small events are considered acceptable, as long as appropriate biosecurity measures are followed. No new events involving livestock are to be scheduled.
The research service has developed biosecurity recommendations for livestock operations at the state’s research farms, operated jointly with N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The College also issued specific recommendations about visits to swine operations.
—Natalie
Hampton
