ABSTRACT
Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is one of the most contagious diseases of mammals and can cause severe economic loss. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Office Internatioal des Epizooties and Pan-American Health Organization have had extensive programmes for FMD surveillance and control. The efforts of these organizations focus on disease reporting, disease status evaluation, safety of world trade, diagnosis and research, standardisation of FMD vaccine production, coordinated control of outbreaks (eg: in Europe in the 90’s) and international support of national and regional FMD control programmes. The coordinated activities of these organizations have contributed greatly to eradication or control of FMD in many countries, and have facilitated global trade while minimising the risk of the introduction of the virus from infected to disease free zones.
