The effect of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccination on virus transmission and the significance for the field.

Vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) might be one of the control measures used during an FMD epidemic depending on the local epidemiological situation, the status of the country, and the opinion of policy makers. A sound decision on vaccination can be made only if there is sufficient scientific knowledge on the effectiveness of vaccination in eliminating the virus from the population. An important question is whether a single vaccination applied as an emergency vaccine can contribute to the control of an epidemic. This paper presents the results of transmission experiments on vaccine efficacy in groups of cattle, pigs, and sheep and concludes that vaccination seemed to be effective in cattle and sheep, but was less effective in pigs. The possible implications for application to field conditions are discussed.