JSPS-1 Overview of Foot and Mouth Disease Control in Thailand and Southeast Asia

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in many countries of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and FMD-free countries face greater risk of incursions due to increased global movement and trade of livestock and animal [1]. In the Southeast Asia and China (SEACFMD) roadmap, the framework supports member countries to consider and improve their Progressive Control Pathway (PCP-FMD) stages (0-5) of FMD control and applies the FMD Official Control Programme recognized by OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health)

Free-grazing Ducks and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, Thailand

Free-grazing ducks in rice paddies are a critical factor in the spread and persistence of avian influenza

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1, Thailand, 2004

Early detection and control curtail outbreaks

Uses of quantitative spatial analysis and epidemiological simulation modeling for assessing control strategies for foot-and-mouth disease

This study addressed issues related to a hypothetical outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) comparing a limited control measure to additional control strategies where there were limited control strategies within FMD virus free area. The central United States was selected as the study area, and the spatial pattern of FMD and its determinants were observed after FMD was introduced into the center of the area. The research reported the magnitude of the outbreaks in different scenarios having different control strategies. The first four chapters in this dissertation cover the sequence of research methods, and the final chapter includes the results and discussion. Chapter 1 reviews aspects of epidemiology of FMD, epidemiological simulation modeling, and spatial analysis with the focus on FMD in terms of disease control. The review stimulated some ideas to generate parameters for the FMD simulation modeling that was done in Chapter 2. Chapter 2 explains the process for generating parameters for a hypothetical outbreak of FMD in the central Unites States. The process included gathering location study premises in the study area from many sources and a simulator. The disease stage and transmission parameters of FMD were estimated from reviews and statistical analyses of data distribution, adjusted for study premises size. The sensitivity analysis of important parameters was analyzed by comparing disease spread for various values of the input parameters. Chapter 3 examines the practical plans in place for FMD control and eradication. The baseline scenario was set up from the base parameters from Chapter 2 and included some limited control strategies. The additional five strategies included additional intensive disease control measures such as restricted animal movement, additional animal destruction, or ring vaccination. The baseline and extra five scenarios were simulated in a simulator and their magnitude was observed, including epidemic duration and estimated number of destroyed and/or vaccinated animals. Chapter 4 identifies the simulated outbreak region and its spatial determinants in the baseline scenario. The density estimation of affected areas was determined and illustrated by maps. Additional quantitative spatial methods such as spatial continuity, autocorrelation, and autoregressive model were analyzed to explain spatial trends and factors related to the affected areas. Chapter 5 concludes the important findings of this research. The overall conclusion summarizes the results from the previous chapters. A hypothetical outbreak of FMD in a large study area such as the one in this research should identify the premises of livestock as the unit of interest. The spread of FMD in the area may be primarily caused by indirect contact rather than direct contact and airborne transmission. The change of parameters in the indirect contact rates was sensitive to the outcome of the simulation. All additional disease control strategies were better than the baseline scenario in terms of reducing the magnitude of the outbreak, but not in shortening the epidemic duration. For example, restricted animal movement was the best strategy to reduce magnitude of the outbreak, but it lengthened the epidemic duration. The kernel density estimation method demonstrated that the outbreak would spread throughout most of the study area. More affected premises in each county arose when higher numbers of livestock premises were in it and neighboring zones

The Effectiveness of a Foot and Mouth Disease Outbreak Control Programme in Thailand 2008–2015: Case Studies and Lessons Learned

Three Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks in northern Thailand that occurred during the implementation of the national FMD strategic plan in 2008⁻2015 are described to illustrate the lessons learned and to improve the prevention and control of future outbreaks. In 2008, during a FMD outbreak on a dairy farm, milk delivery was banned for 30 days. This was a part of movement management, a key strategy for FMD control in dairy farms in the area. In 2009, more than half the animals on a pig farm were affected by FMD. Animal quarantine and restricted animal movement played a key role in preventing the spread of FMD. In 2010, FMD infection was reported in a captive elephant. The suspected source of virus was a FMD-infected cow on the same premises. The infected elephant was moved to an elephant hospital that was located in a different province before the diagnosis was confirmed. FMD education was given to elephant veterinarians to promote FMD prevention and control strategies in this unique species. These three cases illustrate how differences in outbreak circumstances and species require the implementation of a variety of different FMD control and prevention measures. Control measures and responses should be customized in different outbreak situations

Avian influenza, domestic ducks and rice agriculture in Thailand

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) caused by H5N1 viruses has become a global scale problem which first emerged in southern China and from there spread to other countries in Southeast and East Asia, where it was first confirmed in end 2003. In previous work, geospatial analyses demonstrated that free grazing ducks played critical role in the epidemiology of the disease in Thailand in the winter 2004/2005, both in terms of HPAI emergence and spread. This study explored the geographic association between free grazing duck census counts and current statistics on the spatial distribution of rice crops in Thailand, in particular the crop calendar of rice production. The analysis was carried out using both district level rice statistics and rice distribution data predicted with the aid of remote sensing, using a rice-detection algorithm. The results indicated a strong association between the number of free grazing ducks and the number of months during which second-crop rice harvest takes place, as well as with the rice crop intensity as predicted by remote sensing. These results confirmed that free grazing duck husbandry was strongly driven by agricultural land use and rice crop intensity, and that this later variable can be readily predicted using remote sensing. Analysis of rice cropping patterns may provide an indication of the location of populations of free grazing ducks in other countries with similar mixed duck and rice production systems and less detailed duck census data. Apart from free ranging ducks and rice cropping, the role of hydrology and seasonality of wetlands and water bodies in the HPAI risk analysis is also discussed in relation to the presumed dry season aggregation of wild waterfowl and aquatic poultry offering much scope for virus transmission. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Spatiotemporal distribution of foot-and-mouth disease in Nepal between 2019 and 2021

Abstract Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease affecting cloven-hoofed livestock. It is caused by the FMD virus (FMDV), which has seven distinct serotypes (O, A, C, SAT I, SAT II, SAT III, and Asia 1). In Nepal, FMD is a prevalent and economically important livestock disease, with hundreds of outbreaks yearly across different regions. However, there is limited understanding of the recent epidemiological trends of FMD in the past few years in Nepal. This study aims to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution of FMD in Nepal from 2019 to 2021. The FMD and TADs Investigation Laboratory, under the Government of Nepal, conducts annual risk-based surveillance of FMD in the country. The nonstructural protein (NSP) serosurveillance and serotyping (for outbreak confirmation) data from this laboratory were used for the study. The samples were collected either by the laboratory staff or were sent to the laboratory. Data analysis and mapping were performed using Epi info version 7.2.5.0 and QGIS version 3.22.5, respectively. Our findings revealed that 37.65% of samples (n = 417) tested positive for serotyping. The highest number of positive cases occurred in March–April, followed by December. Geographically, the Terai region had the most positive cases, followed by hills and mountains. The positivity rate for serotyping did not significantly vary by animal species (p > 0.05). Serotype O was the dominant serotype in all years, accounting for 98% of cases, while serotype A was found in only 2% of serotype-positive samples. In NSP serosurveillance, out of 3216 samples tested, 15.07% (474/3146; 95% CI, 13.86–16.36) tested positive. NSP seropositivity varied significantly by year (p  0.05). In conclusion, FMD remains endemic in Nepal, with a consistent epidemiological pattern except that the Asia 1 serotype was not detected in the past years. We recommend expanding FMD surveillance activities to high-risk areas and collecting data on potential risk factors driving FMD infection in the country. This will enable the implementation of suitable control measures