Kansas Animal Health Department

Kansas Animal Health Department is now the Division of Animal Health within the Kansas Department of Agriculture. 

If your browser doesn't automatically redirect to Division of Animal Health's new website, please visit http://www.ksda.gov/animal/.

Emergency Planning for Foreign Animal Disease

Kansas livestock producers and related businesses are living in an atmosphere of awareness that did not exist even a few years ago. Introduction of foreign animal disease into United States livestock seemed only a remote possibility until recently. We now realize that introduction of foreign animal disease into U.S. or Kansas livestock; whether by accident or intentional, can happen very easily. Federal and State entities are working around the clock to try to prevent a FAD (foreign animal disease) from entering the United States, but it is impossible to oversee every aspect of our livestock industry.

So we, here in Kansas, can help by taking responsibility for our own livestock. There are things that we, as livestock owners, can do to help protect our Kansas industry.And livestock-related businesses can partner with us in this effort.

At present, Kansas Animal Health Department is actively encouraging every county in Kansas to have an emergency plan in place in order to respond immediately to an outbreak of FAD. There are many foreign animal diseases which would affect us, but we are the most concerned about Foot and Mouth Disease, which strikes cloven-hooved (2-toes) animals. While not a zoonotic disease (passed from animals to humans), it is very highly contagious between susceptible animals. Infected and "carrier" animals, as well as humans, vehicles, water, animal semen, equipment, facilities, clothing, footwear, and feedstuffs can spread the virus. The loss of milk production, abortion, decrease in production, and other lasting problems cause continuous and severe economic losses. An outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease would entail a huge county, state and Federal effort in order to get the disease under control, and ultimately eradicated.

Kansas Animal Health Department's Kansas Emergency Plan for Foreign Animal Disease calls for euthanasia and burial of all Foot and Mouth Disease-infected and exposed animals. With the current high transportability of animals around the U.S. traveling from farms to sale-barns, to feedlots, ranches, slaughter plants, etc., the diseased livestock would spread across our country with alarming speed before being discovered. Catching it as early as possible is our best hope for dealing with the disease.

So, there are several ways that you, as a Kansas producer or ag partner, can help yourselves:

* First of all, check with your County Emergency Coordinator to see if your county has an emergency plan for foreign animal disease in place, and that a copy of the finished plan has been sent to the Kansas Animal Health Department. You can find out who your County Coordinator is at www.kansas.gov/kdem. Or call Kansas Department of Emergency Management at (785) 274-1409. If your County does not have a plan, and you would like to help to protect your county by forming a plan, contact Kansas Animal Health Department at (785) 296-2326. Ask for Karen Domer.

If an outbreak of foreign animal disease happened in your county, your county would have to be first responders until State and Federal help could arrive, which would probably take 24 hours or more. So it is crucial for getting the disease under control, that your county have a committee and a plan ready to activate immediately.

* If Foot and Mouth Disease should come to Kansas, it will most likely be found first by a producer who notices an unusual illness in his herd, and reports it to his local veterinarian. Therefore, you are very important to Kansas. The introduction of disease-causing organisms (pathogens) into a livestock operation can either be intentional, as would be the situation in bio-terrorism, or un-intentional, as is often the case with improper bio-security application procedures. If you are not already practicing good bio-security on your premises, you should start now. Here are some suggestions:

1. Check your animals often, and closely, for unusual signs of disease; watching especially for blisters (vesicles) on mouth, between toes, on teats; lameness, loss of milk yield, abortion, weight loss/loss of appetite. Train your employees to be able to identify potential Foot & Mouth lesions. Encourage employee communication of potential problems and provide time for good observation and reporting.
2. Be watchful about who is coming onto your property. Allow only authorized people on premises. Be suspicious of people who are not authorized to be there. Call the authorities. Keep perimeter gates locked at all times. Watch over low-control areas such as pastures, water, roadside pens, fence-lines, etc. You and your neighbors and delivery people, etc. can watch for each other, as you travel past. Let your neighbor know right away if you see something unusual or someone acting suspiciously.
3. Always arrange to receive livestock during daylight hours so you can examine them closely. Know the health history, including vaccination records, for the herds from which animals are purchased. Ask for health papers so you have a way of tracking them if they should become ill. Be sure the health papers include seller, source, and trucker information. Keep new animals isolated from your existing herd for at least two weeks, until you are sure they are healthy.
4. Keep sick animals isolated in order to prevent contamination of healthy animals. (Prevent nose to nose contact, etc.) Always clean equipment used orally between animals.
5. Have a veterinarian examine dead animals for disease. Choose a place to put dead animals that is away from your herd. Be sure that removal of them (by renderers, etc.) does not go through the herd area.
6. Protect water, feed, pesticides, medications and other supplies. Do not allow feed delivery trucks, etc. to pass through herd areas. They could be carrying disease from another farm.
7. Keep rodents under control---they can be transmitting disease.
8. Farm pets can also transmit disease, in going from farm to farm.
9. Try to restrict birds, rodents & stray animals from access to herd's feed and water.
10. Prohibit visitors to your premises who have traveled outside the USA in the previous 10 days. Do not accept products or materials from foreign countries that may be Foot and Mouth Disease contaminated.

If you have questions, please contact us at (785) 296-2326. We care.