Vaccination sounds like the easy answer to preventing foot and mouth disease, the most infectious animal disease known to man. But vaccinated animals produce antibodies that are the same as an infected animal. So current tests for the disease cannot differentiate between a vaccinated and an infected animal, thus complicating any steps to monitor outbreaks when they happen.
Research is underway to develop the next generation of vaccines offering more complete protection.
Andrew King of the World Reference Centre for Foot and Mouth disease estimates it will be just five years before a marketable vaccine for the disease is available.