By Joyce Ojanji
A new vaccine, designed to protect East African cattle against all major strains of foot and mouth disease (FMD), offers hope to small-scale farmers battling the highly contagious disease.
The first ever quadrivalent vaccine against FMD to be registered in the region manufactured by Biopharma, a vaccine manufacturer company based in Morocco – has been tailored to protect against the four types of FMD virus – O, A, SAT1, and SAT2 – that are known to be circulating in Eastern Africa.
According to experts, (FMD), a viral infection that affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs reduces milk production by up to 80 per cent in affected dairy cattle, costing African producers an estimated US$2.3 billion each year.
The vaccine was developed as part of the AgResults Vaccine Challenge Project, an eight-year, US$17.34 million “pay-for-results” prize competition, organized by the livestock charity the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines (GALVmed).
It is hoped that the treatment will prevent new outbreaks of the disease, improving dairy productivity and access to FMD-free global markets.
According to Nina Henning, project manager team lead at GALVmed, vaccination is currently carried out largely in response to an emergency, rather than to prevent an outbreak, meaning only around five per cent of cattle in Africa have been vaccinated.
“Moving away from reactive vaccination in the case of an outbreak to prophylactic use before an outbreak is a huge step forward for preventative vaccination,” she noted
“It has been developed for use in all cattle over three months and provides a minimum of six months immunity after two doses.”
Henning says the continual evolution of the virus gives rise to new strains, causing case numbers to spike and increasing the risk of spread into new areas.
“There is a global clustering of FMD viruses and these have been divided into seven virus pools,” she explains. Normally, FMD vaccines only contain one or two of the serotypes but the new vaccine has been developed and tested against the four serotypes known to be circulating in Eastern Africa. This should provide confidence that the vaccine will [effectively control] FMD among livestock in the region,” she adds.
Funded by the governments of Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project is structured as a cost-share that reduces the cost-per-dose for buyers.
So far, US$15.8 million has been allocated to the cost-share mechanism, which was launched last month (1 October), according to Henning.
Charles Ndawula Junior, a molecular biologist at the National Livestock Resources Research Institute, Uganda, says the vaccine could have a positive impact on regional trade.
“This vaccine could eventually lead to East Africa being declared FMD-free, enabling beef exports to other FMD-free countries,” he says.
Ndawula says challenges remain in ensuring consistent availability of the vaccine and securing governmental and private sector support for widespread adoption.
He believes the success of the vaccine campaign depends on governments providing farmers with steady access to the vaccine.
“Foot and mouth disease is considered a transboundary disease, meaning that it can spread without limitations. Vaccination would limit the risk of FMD virus transmission during animal movement across borders,” Ndawula adds.
