Foot and mouth disease vaccination and post-vaccination monitoring, FAO/OIE Guidelines

The past decade has been an exciting period for the control of foot and mouth disease (FMD). The Progressive Control Pathway for FMD (PCP-FMD) was developed to provide a novel stepwise methodology for a cost-effective, risk-management approach to FMD control, and it is now the backbone for the implementation of the FAO-OIE Global Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy. The costs of vaccination, one of the most important tools for managing this devastating disease, represent 90% of the total expense of FMD control, so it is essential to plan and evaluate vaccine and vaccination effectiveness to convince decision makers to continue implementing rigorous control measures. These guidelines provide expert advice on how to ensure the success of vaccination programmes. They are designed to guide and assess national or sub-national vaccination programmes at various stages of the PCP-FMD, and will be equally helpful for countries looking to regain FMD-free status following an incursion of FMD, in accordance with the standards in the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code. They stress the importance of having up-to-date information on the virus strains circulating in a given area and highlight the importance of effective Veterinary Services in the implementation of FMD control programmes. Given that most readers and users may have a broad background in disease management and may not necessarily be FMD specialists, the contributors have sought to provide a balance of scientific background, methodology and practical examples.