WASHINGTON, D.C. – A leading official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday, April 6 that the agency continues to "review and improve processes" to keep such economically devastating animal diseases as foot-and-mouth and mad cow disease out of the nation.

Alfonso Torres, USDA’s deputy administrator of veterinary services, said it’s not good enough that government officials have successfully kept foot-and-mouth – the more viral of the two diseases – out of the United States since 1929.

"We have been doing research since 1954 on a number of activities which eventually have their place in the regulatory process," said Torres, who was speaking by teleconference to reporters in the United States and Great Britain.

The country’s FMD research includes testing livestock vaccines, studying samples of infected tissue that comes into one of six international research centers, and sending USDA officials to gather information in countries where foot-and-mouth disease is present.

"In the unlikely case that either of these diseases does come [to the United States], we feel as though we know enough to quickly detect, control and eliminate the disease," Torres said.

Currently, FMD has been detected in 10 countries. The most publicized is Great Britain, where officials estimate livestock losses – due to FMD and mad cow disease – in the billions of dollars.

Neither disease is now present in the United States or in any North American, Central American or Caribbean country. The last known instance of FMD in North America was found in 1954 in Mexico.

Foot-and-mouth disease is far more contagious than mad cow disease, but FMD is not a threat to human health. Cattle can recover from FMD, but the disease leaves them debilitated and causes losses in the production of meat and milk.

The only place in the United States where scientists can conduct research and diagnostic work on FMD is at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center – 1 ½ miles off the coast of Long Island, New York.

"We have an active collaboration and interest with other international research units, to know how FMD is moving around the world," said Peter Mason, research leader for FMD at Plum Island. "There is a constant exchange of samples between these international centers, which we use for a variety of purposes."

Vaccinating U.S. cattle against FMD is not as simple as it may sound. There are seven types and more than 60 subtypes of FMD virus and no universal vaccine against the disease. Vaccines for FMD must match the type and subtype present in an affected region.

To vaccinate cattle, officials would have to predict beforehand the virus that will infect the herd – and which subtype will do the infecting

"It’s the U.S. policy – and actually the North American policy – to try to control FMD and other infectious animal diseases through early detection, control and elimination," Torres said. "In this country, we would only use a vaccine in the case that we actually had an outbreak of FMD, and that decision to use a vaccine would be made very quickly."

Torres added that USDA typically receives "50 to 100 samples per year" to be tested for animal diseases. That number increases to as much as 1,000 samples per year when the risk is higher.

"We welcome that," he said. "We are looking for more samples to come in because that means that everybody is looking for the possibility of that disease coming here."

Kansas State University veterinarian Gerald Stokka is encouraging his state’s livestock producers and county Extension agents to contact their veterinarian immediately if they suspect any presence of FMD or other animal disease. He said there are effective state and federal programs to quickly confirm or negate all reports.

In Kansas, the USDA’s Office of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is located in Topeka and can be reached by calling 785-235-2365. Stokka’s office number at K-State is 785-532-5694.