Abstract
Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a high-impact, contagious transboundary animal disease that is endemic in Southeast Asia. Abattoir samples were routinely collected in six selected provinces between March and December 2019. A total of 1280 samples of abattoir animals were tested for FMD Non-Structural Protein (NSP) antibodies to indicate natural infections. Overall, 22.8% were seropositive for FMD NSP antibodies while seroprevalence of cattle (n = 469), buffalo (n = 214), and pigs (n = 597) were 44.6%, 35.0%, and 1.3%, respectively. The highest seroprevalence destination province was Xiengkhouang (35.3% of 272 samples), followed by Savannakhet (27.0% of 244 samples). Risk factors for evidence of natural infection identified by a multivariate logistic regression model included age groups (p-value = 0.02) and origin provinces (p-value = 2.8 × 10−5) of the animals. There were significant differences of FMD NSP seroprevalence between age groups and origin provinces of the animals. The odds ratio of a seropositive result in the less than 1 year old group was 2.5 (95% CI; 1.4, 4.4) when compared to the 3–4 years old group, while the odds ratios for animals that originated from Khammouane and Xiengkhouang provinces were 4.5 (95% CI; 1.1, 18.7) and 2.4 (95% CI; 1.4, 4.1), respectively, when compared to Champasak province. Serotype-specific antibody ELISA for 44 NSP antibody–positive samples revealed evidence of FMD serotypes O and A virus circulation in some provinces. Despite the passive abattoir survey providing useful information on FMD virus previous exposure and geographic locations of the animals, timely information on FMD virus circulation and distribution is also crucial to an effective control program. Alternative approaches to increase the cost-effectiveness of the surveillance network are also discussed.
Highlights
Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is an important transboundary animal disease in Southeast Asia which results in significant economic impacts to countries in the region due to production losses and international trade disruption (OIE 2018)
The national animal health surveillance network initiated by the Department of Livestock and Fisheries (DLF) and National Animal Health Laboratory (NAHL) within the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has been developed under a collaboration with Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) and funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) of the U.S government
59.6% (n = 62) of animals aged less than 1 year old and 52.1% (n = 48) of animals age more than 7 years old were seropositive to FMD Non-Structural Protein (NSP)
Summary
Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is an important transboundary animal disease in Southeast Asia which results in significant economic impacts to countries in the region due to production losses and international trade disruption (OIE 2018). Lao PDR is an importer and transit country for transboundary cattle trade (Bounma 2019) and a member of the Southeast Asia and China Foot and Mouth Disease (SEACFMD) Campaign coordinated by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE 2020). The surveillance program aimed to utilize the existing network of the Provincial-level and District-level Agricultural and Forestry Offices (PAFO and DAFO) to collect animal disease information (including priority diseases incidence or outbreak data), and livestock samples for passive and active surveillance. Once the network has been fully established, active surveillance in high-risk areas could be performed to provide better disease epidemiology
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