USDA recently approved a petition for the production of a Foot-and-Mouth (FMD) disease vaccine on the United States mainland. Currently, all FMD vaccines are produced overseas. If this vaccine were to complete development and become licensed, it would provide a domestic option for production in the event of an outbreak.

The establishment of a robust FMD vaccine bank has been a top, long-term priority for NPPC, which submitted comments on the vaccine petition. Currently, the USDA, which has prescribed vaccination for dealing with an FMD outbreak, does not have access to enough vaccine should an outbreak occur.

FMD is an infectious viral disease that affects cloven-hooved animals, including cattle, pigs and sheep; it is not a food safety or human health threat. The disease is endemic in many parts of the world and would have widespread, long-term fallout for livestock and crop agriculture, including the immediate loss of export markets.