Combating foot-and-mouth disease: $9 million USDA programme to provide training, equipment

The United States and Pakistan are working together to fight foot-and-mouth disease, which is estimated to cause $82 million in economic damage to rural Pakistani families every year, said David Wolf, Senior Agriculture Attaché at the US Embassy here on Tuesday.
The United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA), in partnership with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and the government of Pakistan, is supporting this effort with a comprehensive $9 million programme to provide training and equipment to researchers, veterinarians and epidemiologists throughout Pakistan.
"Foot-and-mouth disease causes significant damage to Pakistani livestock population and to farmers who depend on them for their livelihood," David Wolf said, adding that the training will allow Pakistani scientists to use the latest technologies and treatments to fight against this disease across the country. "The USDA is proud to be their partner in that effort," he added.
He pointed out that the inaugural session this week at the National Veterinary Labora-tories in Islamabad brought together 45 Pakistani scientists and veterinarians from federal and provincial agencies and universities. Over the course of four days, scientists from the USDA and the University of California at Davis will hold seminars on epidemiology, new diagnosis methods, response to outbreaks and disease control measures.
The programme will continue over coming years as trainees of the programme will partner with provincial governments, universities, and farmers to develop and deploy vaccines to inoculate livestock. Foot-and-mouth disease is one of the most contagious and economically devastating viral diseases in the world. It causes a high rate of sickness in cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats.