Outbreak Investigation and Economic Impact of Foot and Mouth Disease in Bovine in Western Amhara Regional State, North Western Ethiopia

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed wild and domestic animals and causes significant economic losses in the livestock industry. This aim of this study was to identify the circulating serotypes and determine it’s economic impact on cattle production. A a retrosepective questionnaire survey was conducted with 100 farm owners from six districts to determine the economic losses associated with foot and mouth diseases over one year. During the survy, fourteen active case epithelial tissue samples from three districts, which outbreak occure, were collected from the fourteen cattle. The collected tissue sample detected using real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The foot and mouth diseases serotype O, A, SAT1, and SAT2 were identified using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In addition questionnaire survey data revealed that the average economic loss was 5553.21ETB (132.21$USA) per herd and 1124.13ETB (26.76$USA) per individual animal. The present investigation indicated that still foot and mouth disease outbreaks occurred in different areas of the northwestern Amhara region, and the economic impact of the disease is extremely severe, resulting in massive economic losses. Therefore, it is recommended that further studies on the epidemiology, vaccine trials, and socioeconomic consequences should be conducted to design appropriate control options.