Abstract:
Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious and economically important disease
of cloven-hoofed animals, which is endemic in Ethiopia. An outbreak follow-up study was
undertaken to quantify the transmission parameters of FMD in the crop–livestock mixed
(CLM) system and commercial dairy farms in selected areas of northwest Ethiopia. The transmission parameters were quantified using a generalised linear model (GLM) based on a
susceptible–infectious–recovered (SIR) epidemic model. The per day average transmission
rate between animals was 0.26 (95% CI 0.22–0.32) and 0.33 (95% CI 0.21–0.57) in the
CLM system and in the commercial dairy farms, respectively. The average basic reproduction
ratio of FMD was 1.68 (95% CI 1.42–2.07) in the CLM system and 1.98 (95% CI 1.26–3.42) in
the commercial dairy farms. The medium per day transmission rate and moderate basic
reproduction ratio observed in this study indicated that a vaccination coverage needed to
stop transmission of the disease in these populations might not be very high.
Introducti
