Spatial and temporal association between serological prevalence of foot and mouth disease and transboundary movement of large ruminants in Lao people's democratic republic (Lao PDR)

Abstract

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is one of the most important transboundary animal diseases around the world. With highly contagious in susceptible cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle and buffalo, foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV) has a great potential for causing severe economic loss, especially in developing countries such as Lao PDR and Thailand. Because of the demand-supply, cross-border movements of large ruminants in the Greater Mekong sub-region are extensive and Lao PDR has played an important role as the middleman for ruminants trading in this sub-region. The transboundary movement of the animal and other factors were possibly associated with the prevalence of FMD in Lao PDR. Therefore, this study aimed (1) to descript the pattern of serological prevalence and transboundary movement of large ruminants in Lao PDR between 2019 and 2020 and (2) to evaluate the spatial and temporal association between the serological prevalence of FMD and risk factors including transboundary movement, animal characteristics, geographical characteristic, and population in Lao PDR. Existing datasets of transboundary animal movement, serological prevalence, and population between 2019 and 2020 were used for descriptive analysis and linear regression analysis. The results found that the transboundary movement of large ruminants from Thailand to Lao PDR between 2019 and 2020 was dense in two provinces—Bokeo and Khammuane—which were the transit points to export the animal to China and Vietnam. The serological prevalence average was 41.4 percent in 2019 and 50.5 percent in 2020. The regression showed that there were three significant variables (p-value < 0.05) influenced the standardized morbidity rate of FMD, including region, proportion of cattle in the movement, and average of animal age. This study provided a better understanding of the spatial and temporal relation of the risk factors and the serological prevalence of FMD and information for improving the control measures of FMD at both provincial and regional level. Implication of the thematic paper: The results of could be used for improving the policy for FMD control and prevention at various levels

provincial, regional, national and South-East Asia. More specific to Lao PDR, the findings suggests that effective disease surveillance systems and animal movement record systems, cattle population in particular, should be implemented extensively for the central region of Lao PDR.