The number one issue of any vesicular condition is to eliminate the possibility of FMD or other devastating foreign animal diseases. Education of livestock owners, especially those with clinical cases, would be priority. Accredited veterinarians are sent updates periodically. In the case of VSV, quarantines are put in place and count down to quarantine release becomes very important to facilitate release of those quarantines in a timely manner. Trends of spread of the disease is very important.
Epidemiology is started and continued throughout the process of the course of the disease.
Other states are notified of the spread and clinical severity of the outbreak. The outbreak would be evaluated as to the impact on industry, epidemiological trends, manpower evaluation, future research needs and effectiveness of protocol used in the outbreak. Written changes of protocol for future reference needs to be developed. In the Colorado VSV outbreaks of 1995 and 1997, we spent a lot of time and resources developing information to send to accredited veterinarians in the form of newsletters, traveling to producer group meetings to update them on the status of the disease outbreak and assess them of needs of epidemiology and research. The pamphlets explained VSV symptoms, diagnosis, quarantine, livestock restrictions, steps to follow when livestock owners suspect VSV and steps to minimize impact.