As Dr. Steve Van Wie has warned, there were frequent connections made between FMD, the animal disease, and hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD), the disease of young children.  These are not caused by the same virus at all!!  Someone claimed that FMD took the lives of a couple people in England in 2001.  He may be right if he meant suicides, although he had an under-estimate of that toll of the disease.

I don’t know who officially names diseases, but they might consider listening to these comments.  Crisis communicators talk about making your message clear.  Dispersing the fog of misinformation and getting clear messages across will require attention to multiple media threads and understanding where your audience is coming from.

Originally published Jan 4, 2011

Thinking about a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak is not really high on farmers’ lists of things to do. It’s not on their daily agenda of concerns and issues to deal with and they have plenty of those already. When you do get a discussion going around FMD and farmers realize how real the threat is and how serious the consequences could be, the fear can be almost paralyzing. People really don’t like to think about scary things.

StopScaringUs

Yet, there is common acknowledgement that we need to be prepared for this sort of thing. Most people figure “the government” will tell them what to do in the event FMD is found in this country. To some extent, that is true. But when you start to delve into the plans and policies in place, given the imperfect and not unlimited resources at the disposal of “the government”, you may begin to wonder whether we can do better.

I set out about six years ago to better understand FMD response plans in the US and the role of farmers in those plans. A lot of effort has gone into addressing issues that would become imminent concerns in the event of an outbreak. A key issue for dairy farmers is whether they would be able to ship their milk. Will customer demand be adversely affected? Will movement controls prevent shipping of milk across state lines?

Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) crisis communications staff and partners in the beef and pork industries have been working hard to understand consumer perception and have messages ready to go to assure consumers that milk and meat products are safe to consume and feed to their children in the event of an FMD outbreak.

National and regional groups have been developing “Secure Milk Supply” plans to facilitate decision-making on movement restrictions. Being able to ship milk is understood to be critical to continuity of business for dairy farms but needs to be done in a way that minimizes the chance of spreading FMD.

As I have participated in exercises and meetings, I have concluded that having farmers at the table is absolutely necessary to make sure their perspective is not overlooked and to drive the discussion towards practical workable solutions. In fact, because I feel it is so important for farmers and their organizations to be involved in FMD planning, I partnered with the National Institute for Animal Agriculture to host a special symposium coming up next month.

The symposium has been designed to facilitate the sharing of perspectives on FMD preparedness and response among stakeholders, particularly on the topic of movement restrictions and permitting. I encourage you, whether you are a livestock farmer, agri-business employee, or food retailer, to join the conversation.

Information and registration can be found at http://www.animalagriculture.org/Solutions/Annual%20Conference/2013/index.html

The strategy outlines 3 main objectives:

• Improve global FMD control in a stepwise approach by country or region
• Strengthen veterinary services to provide surveillance, diagnostic and biosecurity programs
• Improve the prevention and control of other major diseases of livestock through enhanced surveillance and application of preventive measures such as vaccination

Meanwhile in the western hemisphere, the South American Commission for the Fight Against Foot-and-Mouth Disease (COSALFA) is following its action plan for 2011 – 2020 for countries in the region. Established in 1973, the Pan American Foot-and-Mouth Disease Center (PANAFTOSA) in Brazil led the development of the Hemispheric Plan for Foot-and-Mouth Disease Eradication, first published in 1987. Much progress has been made in the 21^st century and PANAFTOSA continues to push for the eradication of FMD from South America.

More in Feedstuffs

Come join Dr. Franklyn Garry, professor of veterinary medicine at Colorado State University, at one of the following venues as he discusses how and why dairy farmers should address the problem of Johne’s disease.

November 7, Green Mountain Dairy Discussion Group, Addison Fire House, Addison, noon – 2,
“Managing Mortality Losses in Dairy Herds” and “Johne’s and Crohn’s Disease”
Please RSVP to Kyle Lussier at 802-388-2692 or kyle.lussier@yankeeaca.com by Monday November 5.

November 8, Red School House, VTC, Randolph Center, 10 am – noon,
“Johne’s Disease: Why Worry and What Difference Can We Make?”
No RSVP needed. If questions, contact Julie Smith, 802-656-4496, julie.m.smith@uvm.edu

November 8, Franklin County Discussion Group, Alltech, St. Albans, beginning at 6:30 pm,
“Johne’s Disease: Why Worry? What Difference Can We Make?”
Please RSVP to Northwest Veterinary Associates at 802-524-3222.

November 9, Poulin Grain Conference Room, Newport, 11 am – 3 pm.
“Johne’s Disease: What are the Potential Implications for Production and Public Health”
Please RSVP to Joanne at Poulin Grain, 800-334-6731

These qualify as Caring Dairy workshops.

To request a disability-related accommodation to participate in this program, please contact Julie Smith at 802-656-4496 by November 1, 2012, so we may assist you.

Sponsored by University of Vermont Extension and the Vermont Cattle Health Improvement Program.

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. University of Vermont Extension, Burlington, Vermont.

University of Vermont Extension, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or familial status.

UVM Extension helps individuals and communities put research-based knowledge to work.

Addison County Milk Truck Decontamination Drill - Photo by Louis Bedor III

Orwell, VT – On Saturday, March 31st, UVM Extension, the Addison County Decontamination Team, Orwell Fire Department and Orwell Rescue participated in an on-farm milk truck cleaning and disinfection drill. The drill allowed local responders to meet their training goals while simultaneously meeting goals of a biosecurity project led by Julie Smith, University of Vermont (UVM) Extension Dairy Specialist. The

Addison County Milk Truck Decontamination Drill - Photo by Louis Bedor III

drill was conducted in accordance with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) structure. The cleaning and disinfection procedure followed guidelines drafted by a national Secure Milk Supply project describing how to safely move milk during a foreign animal disease crisis.

Dr. Julie Smith, on-hand for the drill, explained her goals for the event. “This

Addison County Milk Truck Decontamination Drill - Photo by Louis Bedor III

project is engaging farmers and community members in Addison County to learn about and prepare for a highly contagious disease of livestock such as foot-and-mouth disease. Today we wanted to see for ourselves what is needed to conduct cleaning and disinfection according to the Secure Milk Supply guidance.”

After the drill was over, responders returned to the Orwell Fire Station to review responder reactions and suggestions from different team members about the unique situation they faced. Tim Bouton, wearing several hats as Addison County Senior Emergency Planner, New Haven Firefighter, and Addison County Decontamination Team member, remarked, “Trainings like this one are good for our teams to participate in. Understanding the potential challenges from a drill like this will make our teams more prepared in case the unthinkable happens.”

The drill could not have taken place without the permission of the Seiferts of Arbutusland Farm in Orwell, the support of Agri-Mark, Inc., and the cooperation of Kenneth Pope and Sons Trucking that provided a milk truck for the drill. The drill is part of an ongoing UVM Extension study which investigates the costs and challenges associated with developing and implementing a community-wide biosecurity plan. This project is funded in part by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no. 2010-85122-20613 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. For more information about the UVM Extension Biosecurity project, contact UVM Extension Outreach Professional Louis Bedor III at louis.bedor-III@uvm.edu.