American pigs and cattle are ‘vulnerable’ to deadly hoof-and-mouth disease, federal government agency warns

America’s swine and cattle populations are vulnerable to the deadly and highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease, and “efforts to prepare for a potential outbreak could be strengthened,” according to a U.S. government watchdog’s new report. The Government Accountability Office report said the U.S. Department of Agriculture “may not have a sufficient supply of FMD vaccine to control more than a small outbreak because of limited resources to obtain vaccine.” It also said an epidemic could prove costly to the nation’s livestock industry and the federal government. Foot-and-mouth disease, or FMD, in livestock is found roughly in about two-thirds of the world, but the U.S. hasn’t experienced an outbreak since the 1920s. “The United States is vulnerable to FMD transmission, given the large size and mobility of the U.S. livestock sector,” the GAO said in the report published last week. “An FMD outbreak in the United States could have serious economic impacts, in part because trade partners would likely halt all imports of U.S. livestock and livestock products until the disease was eradicated.” The 2018 Farm Bill signed into law in December by President Donald Trump included more funding for USDA’s animal health and disease preparedness programs, such as money for an expanded animal vaccine bank for FMD..MORE