UC Davis Food and Mouth Disease Survey
In the wake of the recent foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the UK, researchers at the Center for Animal Disease Modeling and Surveillance (CADMS) at UC Davis are calling upon livestock producers to participate in an online survey. The goal of the survey is to collect information for a computer simulation model that will help predict how foot-and-mouth would spread in the United States and to identify the best control strategies for containment. The survey consists of nine questions about animal and people movements on and off the farm and takes only about 5 to 10 minutes to complete. Dairy, swine and goat producers are especially encouraged to participate.
“In the U.S., the economic impact of an outbreak is estimated to be as high as $13 billion,” said Dr. Tim Carpenter, professor of veterinary epidemiology and primary investigator for the study. “By answering our short survey and forwarding it to others, livestock producers can help us prevent this from happening in the U.S.”
The online survey is at http://www.fmdsurvey.com. CADMS guarantees that all the information will be kept confidential and will only be used for modeling purposes.
This first appeared in the October 2007 issue of Western Dairy Business.
