ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL AND STATE AGENCIES IN CONTROLLING EXOTIC ANIMAL DISEASES
Sharon D. Nath, Class of 2003, The University of Georgia, College of Veterinary Medicine
Corrie Brown, DVM, PhD, The University of Georgia, College of Veterinary Medicine
Introduction
The United States produces approximately $250 billion in agricultural products annually. Through exportation to other nations, the market for U.S. agricultural sales is greatly expanded and thus a major mission of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is to protect existing export markets and investigate future expansion into new markets. If a foreign animal disease enters the U.S., there will be extensive market losses and even more costly export barriers, causing severe economic impacts.
Risks of introduction today are greater than ever because of expanding international trade and travel. The amount of agricultural imports has doubled over the last decade and in the climate of free trade, will certainly continue to grow. A highly transmissible foreign animal disease can spread ferociously if undetected or not reported. Animal production today is much more intensified with approximately 95% of agricultural products produced on about 5% of the farms. Also, animals today are transported extensively throughout the nation. It is common for an animal to cross several state lines between birth and slaughter - born in one state, weaned in a second, fattened in a third, and slaughtered in a fourth. At each of these waystations there is possibility of contact with numerous other animals, with tremendous potential for disease spread and dissemination. If, or when, an outbreak occurs in the U.S., a unified force consisting of local veterinary practitioners, industry members, state agencies, and federal agencies must be ready to implement an emergency response in order to contain and eradicate the disease as quickly as possible. Our best defense is increased awareness and preparedness so that a foreign disease can be recognized at first blush and immediately eradicated.
What are the portals of entry of a foreign animal disease to the U.S.?
What are foreign animal diseases and why the potential for such devastation?
So how is the United States protected against incursion of a FAD?
Who gets involved when a FAD is suspected?
Conclusions
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