Knowledge affecting foot-and-mouth disease vaccination behavior: traditional dairy farmers in the dry zone of Sri Lanka.

The aim of this study was to identify social and farm factors influencing the knowledge of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), factors influencing participation in FMD vaccination, and vaccination coverage. The study was conducted with 180 traditional dairy farmers who were engaged in cattle and buffalo farming located in three veterinary ranges of the Ampara district in the eastern province of Sri Lanka, during September and October 2019. The probit and tobit regression models were applied to determine the factors. On an average, the scores for knowledge of FMD and hygiene management were calculated as 54.5% and 49.2%, respectively. Farmers' knowledge of FMD was strongly associated with gender, level of education, and participation in the farmer training program (p < 0.01). The vaccination behavior was enhanced significantly by the number of animals, farming experience, knowledge of FMD score (p < 0.05), and hygiene management score (p < 0.1). It was revealed that social and farm factors contributed to the knowledge of FMD and vaccination behavior. Therefore, we recommend that the livestock educational training program will motivate better participation in the FMD control plan in Sri Lanka.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related to brucellosis and factors affecting knowledge sharing on animal diseases: a cross-sectional survey in the dry zone of Sri Lanka.

Farmers' lack of knowledge is assumed to have affected the presence of brucellosis in Sri Lanka for decades. This study, carried out in the Ampara district in the dry zone of Sri Lanka, revealed that there is a significant knowledge gap for brucellosis compared to foot and mouth disease (FMD) (p < 0.001). Only 8.3% of farmers knew that brucellosis causes cattle abortions. Only 2.6% knew that it is zoonotic. The difference in knowledge of the symptoms and transmission of brucellosis and FMD was significant (p < 0.001). Farmers' attitudes and practices related to the spread of the disease were poor. Farmers' education and spoken language had a negative influence on knowledge. Young people and those with strong social relationships were efficient in knowledge sharing. It can be concluded that brucellosis knowledge, attitudes, and practices are poor; thus, there is a need for more attention in disease control policymaking. Backward farmer groups should be the focus in animal health extension programs.

Impact of foot-and-mouth disease on pork and chicken prices in Central Luzon, Philippines.

Central Luzon is the number one pig-producing region in the Philippines and was affected by Foot-and-Mouth disease (FMD) in 1995. In this paper, the impact of FMD on the Central Luzon meat market from 1995 to 1999 was examined. Employing the error correction model (ECM) and historical decomposition, the impact of FMD on the Central Luzon pork and chicken meat market was quantified. The following findings were observed: (a) pig farm and pork wholesale prices dropped 11.8% and 15.7%, respectively, after the initial FMD outbreaks in January, 1995; (b) in February, 1995, chicken farm and wholesale prices declined by 21.1% and 14.2%, respectively (while chicken retail prices also went down by 10.5%); (c) the margins of pig and chicken traders were also adversely affected at some point; and (d) FMD caused changes of dynamic interdependence among prices by meat type at different levels of the meat supply chain. This study makes several contributions to the literature on the impact of FMD outbreaks. This study is the first that simultaneously investigates the impact of FMD outbreaks on meat prices, price margins along the supply chain, and price interdependence in the meat system in Central Luzon, Philippines. Also, the Philippine pork industry is dominated by backyard farmers rather than the predominantly large commercial pig farmers existing in developed countries. Secondly, it yielded the novel finding of price decline in both pig and chicken prices as a result of the FMD outbreaks. And lastly, the study showed that the profit margins of the pig traders, pork traders, chicken traders and chicken meat traders were also negatively affected by the FMD outbreaks in January 1995. However, over the long term, the price margins of pork traders were more severely affected in contrast to that of the other traders' profits.