Veterinary vaccines and their use in developing countries.

The burden of infectious diseases in livestock and other animals continues to be a major constraint to sustained agricultural development, food security, and participation of developing and in-transition countries in the economic benefits of international trade in livestock commodities. Targeted measures must be instituted in those countries to reduce the occurrence of infectious diseases. Quality veterinary vaccines used strategically can and should be part of government sanctioned-programmes. Vaccination campaigns must be part of comprehensive disease control programmes, which, in the case of transboundary animal diseases, require a regional approach if they are to be successful. This paper focuses on the salient transboundary animal diseases and examines current vaccine use, promising vaccine research, innovative technologies that can be applied in countries in some important developing regions of the world, and the role of public/private partnerships.