Iowa prepares for possible foot-and-mouth outbreaks

The foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the United Kingdom that has devastated livestock populations appears to be subsiding. But the United States still is keeping a close watch, especially since outbreaks in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and other countries have been reported.

The United States has been free of foot-and-mouth disease since 1929 and Iowa’s agriculture-related groups want to keep it that way. So to plan for possible outbreaks of this economically crippling disease, a state taskforce formed by Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge has been developing plans to deal with any worst-case scenarios. Iowa State University Extension is playing a key role in this process.

"In the event of an outbreak, our role for public education and dispersing information would be huge," said Dr. Nolan Hartwig, ISU Extension veterinarian.

If the disease were to reach Iowa, farm-to-farm travel, county fairs and livestock auctions would stop. Given this, Hartwig said Extension plays an important role because it has the network and infrastructure in place to get information to producers statewide.

For now, experts monitoring outbreaks of the disease are telling producers to use standard bio-security procedures with their livestock herds, but recommend limiting access to only those people essential to their operations.

Statewide livestock organizations also play an important role in preventing foot-and-mouth disease and disseminating information to producers. The Iowa Pork Producers, for example, does not have any special efforts under way at this time, but is keeping members up-to-date through normal communication channels and has representatives actively participating on the state taskforce.

"Our members aren’t too worried about it [foot-and-mouth disease] occurring locally at this time, but we’d like to keep it that way and make sure the disease stays out of the United States," said Rich Degner, executive director of the Iowa Pork Producers. Degner said the priority is making sure a good plan is in place and everyone is prepared for worst-case scenarios.

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