APHIS Factsheet

Veterinary Services April 2007

Emergency Response: 

Foot-and-Mouth 

Disease and Other 

Foreign Animal 

Diseases

Surveillance Efforts

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal 

and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has a 

strong system in place for detecting and responding 

to outbreaks of foreign animal diseases, including 

foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), in the United States. 

This system begins with a cadre of USDA-certified private veterinary practitioners who partner with livestock 

producers and APHIS to report any suspected foreign 

animal disease cases to State and Federal officials. 

 When a possible case of a foreign animal disease 

is reported, APHIS works with the State involved 

to immediately dispatch one of the more than 400 

specially trained foreign animal disease diagnosticians to the scene. The diagnostician is responsible 

for collecting disease samples from affected animals 

and establishing initial quarantines. The samples are 

immediately transported to APHIS’ National Veterinary 

Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, or to 

NVSL’s Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (FADDL) on Plum Island, NY, for diagnosis. 

Samples from foreign animal disease investigations 

receive immediate attention at these facilities. Initial 

diagnostic results are often available within 24 hours 

of sample collection.

Responding to a Foreign Animal Disease Detection

If APHIS laboratory officials confirm that the sample 

is indeed positive for a foreign animal disease agent, 

APHIS and State animal health officials immediately 

begin investigating the source and trace all animals 

that may have come into contact with the disease. 

These officials apprise other State and Federal counterparts of the status of their investigation and initiate 

emergency response efforts at the State and local 

level. Factors such as high mortality and morbidity as 

well as other signs consistent with a foreign animal 

disease prompt APHIS emergency response teams 

to take immediate measures. These measures 

include ensuring the biosecurity of the affected site, 

establishing and maintaining animal movement quarantines, and alerting officials in neighboring States. In 

addition, the APHIS Emergency Operations Center in 

Riverdale, MD, can be activated to begin coordinating 

with Federal, State, and local officials on communication and disease eradication efforts, with the ultimate 

goal of returning the United States to disease-free 

classification in the world marketplace.

APHIS’ Response Plans for Highly Contagious 

Diseases

Because specific outbreak situations vary, and each 

State’s emergency response capabilities differ, APHIS’ 

response plans for highly contagious diseases like 

FMD are designed to be flexible and dynamic. In 

recent years, with increased attention placed on the 

possibility of a severe foreign animal disease introduction in the United States, APHIS has been working 

to partner even more closely with State and Federal 

agencies to expand the pool of resources available. 

APHIS’ response plans are designed to tap State and 

Federal resources as available and allow APHIS’ animal health expertise and coordination skills to fill any 

remaining gaps.

 As part of these ongoing efforts, APHIS has urged 

States to respond to animal health crises with the 

same emergency response systems that are in place 

for other severe emergencies, such as floods and 

other natural disasters. For States that have adopted 

such measures, APHIS’ response plans enable the 

agency to act as a cooperator in initial disease eradication and control efforts. Conversely, for other States 

without integrated animal health emergency response 

plans, APHIS would operate jointly with State and 

local officials to coordinate response efforts. Regardless of the level of a State’s animal health emergency 

planning, in the event of an FMD detection, APHIS 

officials will work to ensure that a consistent and 

appropriate response to the disease is carried out not 

only in the affected area, but in surrounding regions 

and the rest of the United States.

 To accomplish this goal, APHIS also partners with 

other Federal agencies, including the Department of 

Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency, 

and the Department of Defense, in regard to animal 

disease outbreaks. In the event of a significant animal 

health situation, all relevant Federal agencies will 

follow National Response Plan guidelines. Should 

an FMD outbreak occur in the United States, other 

Federal agencies are prepared to recognize APHIS’ 
tially devastate American agriculture, seriously affect 

the economy, and threaten the public’s health. 

 Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9 

(HSPD-9) established the NVS in 2004. The Directive requires the NVS to be able to deploy within 24 

hours “sufficient amounts of animal vaccine, antiviral, 

or therapeutic products to appropriately respond to 

the most damaging animal diseases affecting human 

health and the economy...” APHIS’ efforts to implement the Directive and to make the NVS operational 

have improved our Nation’s ability to deliver rapidly 

and with less cost, large quantities of critical veterinary supplies and equipment in response to complicated animal disease scenarios. One such potential 

scenario includes a situation in which there would 

be numerous, large-scale animal disease outbreaks 

occurring simultaneously at multiple locations.

North American Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine 

Bank

As a further precaution against a widespread FMD 

outbreak, agency officials have worked with Canada 

and Mexico to develop the North American 

Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine Bank (please refer 

to the APHIS factsheet on FMD vaccine). While 

APHIS does not currently believe widespread vaccination is an appropriate first step against the disease, 

recent exercises simulating an FMD outbreak in North 

America, and modeling based on the 2001 United 

Kingdom FMD outbreak, have shown that vaccinating 

animals may enhance other eradication activities and 

help limit the overall impact of an outbreak. APHIS is 

prepared to quickly implement a targeted FMD vaccination program if agency officials determine during 

an actual outbreak that it would benefit the agency’s 

control and eradication efforts.

Recovering From an FMD Outbreak

Once an FMD outbreak is brought under control, 

APHIS’ efforts will move toward assisting producers 

in recovering from their losses. Specifically, APHIS 

will evaluate the disease situation in the United States 

and work to regionalize any remaining affected areas. 

In this way, disease eradication resources can be 

focused in key areas, and animals in other parts of 

the country can be classified as disease-free, making 

them eligible for interstate movement and slaughter. 

APHIS will also work with agriculture officials in other 

countries to relay critical disease monitoring information and keep export markets open for animals and 

products certified as disease-free. APHIS officials 

will meet with Federal, State, and local cooperators 

to assess FMD response activities after the disease 

has been eradicated from the United States. Such 

assessments aid in the development of new strategies 

for sharing resources and improving response efforts.

animal health authority and expertise; numerous cooperative Federal agencies would provide resources to 

USDA as necessary to control and eradicate an FMD 

outbreak.

APHIS’ Emergency Operations Center

Due to FMD’s highly contagious nature, any detection of the disease in the United States would warrant 

immediate activation of APHIS’ Emergency Operations Center. APHIS officials stationed in the Center 

would help to coordinate local, State, and Federal 

response and eradication efforts, coordinate interagency planning, and implement national communication and information-sharing strategies. 

 The Emergency Operations Center’s responsibilities during the initial stages of an FMD outbreak 

would also include immediately notifying animal health 

officials in Canada and Mexico about the FMD detection and subsequent response efforts. APHIS’ North 

American partners are prepared to implement similar 

disease surveillance and control measures should 

FMD be detected in the United States. These steps 

would assist in safeguarding livestock resources 

in other areas of North America and help to prevent additional introductions of the disease. On the 

domestic front, officials in the Emergency Operations Center would also be available to help develop 

emergency response plans and interim regulations as 

needed.

 Looking beyond North America, APHIS officials 

working in the Emergency Operations Center would 

stay in close contact with U.S. trading partners to 

provide information and monitor for unnecessary trade 

restrictions on U.S. products. APHIS must also notify 

the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the 

international animal health governing body, of certain 

animal disease outbreaks and all steps taken to 

control FMD.

Stamping Out an FMD Outbreak

APHIS’ response plans are focused on eradicating the 

disease. After confirming an outbreak, the agency 

would move quickly to trace infected or exposed animals, establish and maintain FMD quarantines, and 

destroy infected or disease-exposed animals. APHIS 

is prepared to work with State and local officials to 

humanely euthanize animals and dispose of carcasses in approved manners. Additionally, indemnity 

would be paid to affected producers for the fair market 

value of animals that must be depopulated.

National Veterinary Stockpile

The National Veterinary Stockpile (NVS) is the 

Nation’s repository of vaccines and other critical veterinary supplies and equipment. The NVS is designed 

to augment State and local resources in the fight 

against dangerous animal diseases that could poten-
For More Information Contact

USDA, APHIS, Veterinary Services

National Center for Animal Health Emergency 

Management

4700 River Road, Unit 41

Riverdale, MD 20737-1231

Telephone: (301) 851-3595

Fax: (301) 734-7817

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United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture