New oil-based foot and mouth disease vaccine effective

Livestock diseases pose the greatest challenge to dairy and beef production in Kenya because they reduce productivity, increase the cost of treatment, and sometimes end up in death. One of these destructive diseases is the foot and mouth disease (FMD). This disease affects cattle, pigs, goats, and sheep and results in the imposition of quarantines that negatively affect trade in animal and animal products from affects areas.

Foot and mouth disease is a contagious viral illness of livestock and other mammals and can potentially cause severe economic losses. Exotic animals reared under intensive production systems, for example zero-grazing, are more susceptible to FMD, making it one of the most economically important disease in dairy production. The disease causes death in young stock, while in adult stock it greatly reduces production. Recovering animals are normally debilitated and weak.