ABSTRACT
The popularly held notion that Third World livestock are infected with all of the most dreaded diseases is not true, but many of the countries do live with at least a few of them, often superimposed one on the other. Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is the most feared of all the animal diseases worldwide because of its ease and speed of spread and the susceptibility of all cloven-hooved animals. It has long been established in livestock populations of the Mideast causing abortions, deaths, weight loss, mastitis, and lowered milk production. The more dramatic virus diseases, such as FMD, ASF, rinderpest, bovine pleuropneumonia, and external parasites that transmit East Coast fever and trypanosomiasis, are the most highly visible of the livestock plagues worldwide. Proper vaccines, a solid border inspection and quarantine program, and accurate diagnosis could take care of many of the most severe disease problems in the world.
