Foot-and-Mouth disease control using vaccination: the Dutch experience in 2001.

A first case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) was confirmed on a farm in Oene on 21 March 2001. The Dutch eradication strategy for the area which is densely populated with susceptible animals was immediately applied: stamping out the infected herd and pre-emptive culling of all susceptible animals on farms within a radius of 1 km around an infected farm. If the organisation was unable to cull infected herds within 24 hours after detection and the neighbouring farms within four days, emergency ring vaccination would be applied. By 26 March it was clear that capacity problems prevented the required rapid culling and therefore the decision to apply emergency vaccination was taken. On 28 March vaccination of all susceptible animals was started in 2 km zones around infected farms. In the area where the first outbreak occurred, by 1 April 11 farms were found to be infected. Tracing the links between these infections was difficult, the farms being at a greater distance than 4 km from each other and fear increased that the disease could not be contained in this area. It was therefore decided to vaccinate a larger area: "Vaccination area Noord Veluwe". Suppressive vaccination was chosen. This implied that all vaccinated animals should be killed and destroyed. Vaccination rapidly reduced the number of new infections. In total 26 farms became infected with FMD. The last affected farm was confirmed on 22 April 2001. The last vaccinated animal was culled on 25 May 2001. EU rules also gave the option of choosing protective vaccination. The consequence was that only vaccinated cattle could stay alive. The status 'FMD-free without vaccination' however would then be recovered 12 months after the last outbreak. This consequence was too damaging to the export interests of the country. The killing of healthy vaccinated animals became the predominant factor in the discussion of farmers, politicians and the general public. The need for adjustments in the FMD eradication strategy and in the OIE and EU rules concerning FMD was strongly expressed in the International FMD Conference held in Brussels in December 2001. Since then these rules have been changed and as a result of this a more animal-friendly eradication of FMD is now possible.