Vaccination in food animal populations.

This report highlights the role of vaccination in the present and future food animal industry in the framework of the disease policy of the European Commission. Vaccination was essential in the virtual eradication of foot-and-mouth disease and classical swine fever, the use of modern marker vaccines opens prospects for eradication of viruses in countries with a high prevalence, and a rebirth of interest in bacterial vaccines is noted, because of the problems of drug resistance and antimicrobial residues. Biotechnology has already led to the development of several new vaccines, and to the improvement of current vaccines, and it still holds great potential for designing basically novel vaccines. Vaccination, thus, is a crucial tool in reducing the enormous economic losses caused by diseases in food animals.