09/11/07 More producers needed for FMD disease simulation model

Washington Ag September 11, 2007 In the wake of the recent foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the UK, researchers at the Center for Animal Disease Modeling and Surveillance at UC Davis, are calling upon livestock producers across the nation 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 US and identify the best control strategies for containment. Dr. Claire Thunes is a project manager and says the survey is confidential and only takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. Thunes: "Nine or ten pretty quick questions asking some pretty basic information about the movements they make, the type of facilities they have, how many animals they have on the farm. We don't even ask them to identify the exact number of animals. We have categories, zero to 50, 50-100, 100-500. They just have to identify what category they fall into." The survey can be found at www.fmdsurvey.com and dairy, swine and goat producers are especially encouraged to participate. Dr. Tim Carpenter, the primary investigator for the study, says the economic impact of an FMD outbreak in the U.S. is estimated to be as high as 13-billion dollars and by answering this short survey livestock producers can help prevent that from happening. I'm Bob Hoff.