An integrated epidemiological and economic analysis of foot and mouth disease in Thailand: Evaluation of FMD control measures

Summary

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a viral disease that affects multiple livestock species, including cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and buffaloes. It causes significant economic losses to the livestock industry. FMD is endemic in many countries around the world, including Thailand. Although the Thai government is making efforts to prevent and control FMD, outbreaks still occur every year. In this thesis, we study the epidemiology of FMD to learn where, when, why, and how FMD outbreaks happened in Thailand. The studies include multiple levels of outbreaks, from the whole country down to subdistricts and farms, to get the whole picture of outbreaks. Moreover, the economic impacts of FMD are studied to estimate the losses from outbreaks. We took the next step by integrating knowledge from epidemiology and economics to develop a model to assess area-specific FMD control measures.