We conducted diagnostic investigations to analyze the causes of abortions (46 cases, 65.7%), deaths (22 cases, 31.4%) and muscular lesions (2 cases, 2.9%) occurred after foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccination in livestock farms in Korea. Bacterial culture, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were performed to detect the causative agents of abortion in bovine and caprine. The diagnostic results showed that 36 (51.4%) cases, referring as “Identified”, were occurred by influence of underlying disease including bovine viral diarrhea (12 cases, 17.1%), neosporosis (7 cases, 10.0%), septicemic colibacillosis (5 cases, 7.1%), Q fever (4 cases, 5.7%) and other abnormal conditions (8 cases, 11.4%) not by vaccination. Other 2 (3.0%) cases were suspected to be vaccine-associated adverse reaction on the basis of pathological findings (shock lung, oil-component-induced granuloma) and clinical symptoms (dyspnea with pulmonary edema). The other 32 (45.7%) cases were determined “Unknown” because any pathogens and pathological changes were not identified. However, many of the “Unknown” cases were presumptive to be the vaccine-related adverse reaction based on epidemiological investigation, especially, the cases which showed the clinical signs within 2 days after the vaccination. It is important to conduct pathological, microbilogical and epidemiological investigation to diagnose whether the cases are from vaccine-associated adverse reaction or not.

The cost-effectiveness of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) control strategies was evaluated using a simulation model fitted to the 2010/11 FMD epidemic in the city of Andong, Republic of Korea. Seven FMD-control strategies were evaluated with respect to the direct cost of a FMD-control strategy, such as slaughtering, movement restriction, and vaccination. All the strategies included pre-emptive slaughtering, movement restriction, and vaccination, but the levels of each control option were different. The simulated median cost of the baseline FMD-control strategy (three kilometers of pre-emptive slaughtering area, 100 days of movement restriction and vaccination of all FMD-susceptible animals in the study area) was estimated to be USD 99.7 million. When a five kilometer vaccination area was applied (with the other control measures being the same as the baseline strategy), the simulated median cost was reduced to USD 81.1 million from USD 99.7. The simulated median costs were USD 107.6 million for a five kilometer radius slaughtering area and USD 168.8 million for 60 days of movement restriction. The FMD-control strategy cost decreased with increasing number of farms depopulated per day. The probability of passive surveillance being effective or the probability of the successful implementation of movement restrictions were increased. Cost-effectiveness analysis is a suitable tool for evaluating the financial consequences of FMD-control strategies by comparing the cost of control strategies for a specific area.

A simulation model of the 2010/11 foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) epidemic in the city of Andong, Republic of Korea was constructed to evaluate the epidemiologic effectiveness of FMD-control strategies. Seven FMD-control strategies were evaluated with respect to a number of epidemiologic indicators relating to the outbreak, including the number of infected animals, number of infected farms, and epidemic duration. The FMD-control strategies in the model consisted of pre-emptive slaughtering, movement restriction, and vaccination; however, levels of each control option differed. The constructed model was not perfectly representative of the 2010/11 FMD epidemic, although it was considered to mimic the actual FMD epidemic in its prediction of two outcomes: the median number of simulated FMD-detected farms was 294 (range 207–515), which was close to the number of farms detected (299) during the actual FMD epidemic (x2=87.239, df=98, p = 0.774); and the simulated epidemic curve was visually similar to the actual epidemic curve of the 2010/11 FMD epidemic. The effectiveness evaluation of simulated FMD-control strategies emphasized the amount the FMD outbreak size could have increased if the radius of the pre-emptive slaughtering area or the duration of movement restriction were decreased.