Preparedness: the key to facing animal health emergencies
The interconnected world in which we live has eliminated borders, generating many benefits, but also presents some risks such as the re-emergence of diseases in countries or regions in which they had been eradicated in previous times, or never existed previously. This current context poses (for some time now) a new challenge in the prevention, control and eradication of diseases; it also challenges traditional chains of transmission thanks to the greater interaction of the human-animal-environment ecosystem.
The recent case of Germany, which declared an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in early 2025 after 37 years free of the disease, is just one example of how the re-emergence of a disease in an area where it wasn’t circulating can negatively impact a country’s health status, productivity, food security and internal/external trade.
The foot-and-mouth disease virus is one of the most contagious viruses known in the veterinary field. It is transmitted by air and affects cloven hoofed species (including ruminants and pigs) that are part of food production. In certain parts of the world, the disease is endemic; that is, it exists permanently, while in others it appears sporadically. In other regions the disease has been controlled through vaccination, among other control measures, and allowed some countries to declare themselves free of foot-and-mouth disease and maintain this status through epidemiological surveillance.
A need for control and prevention tools
It is precisely in these situations of re-emergence of diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease that having control and prevention tools is indisputable. The collaboration of animal health authorities, producers and the private sector is essential to understand the context of the countries, the region and the disease and thus be able to implement strategies that prevent or control a possible outbreak.
Proper epidemiological surveillance, early diagnosis, trained and updated personnel, updated emergency preparedness procedures and vaccine quality and security are some key points to quickly address the appearance of a disease. In the case of countries that do not use vaccination as a preventive method, there are services such as vaccine and/or antigen banks, which can guarantee access to safe, high-quality vaccines, which allow them to implement control and prevention measures in an outbreak in the shortest time, and via a less costly process.
But what is an antigen and vaccine bank?
Antigen banks are strategic reserves of the active ingredient of the vaccine that is stored with a special ultra-purification technology and allows millions of doses of the main strains circulating in the world to be concentrated in small volumes, ready to produce a vaccine in periods not longer than 7 days. On the other hand, at a vaccine bank, a reserve of ready-to-use vaccines are available to use immediately when necessary.
How does it work?
Antigen banks require state-of-the-art technology and the ability to develop highly complex vaccines in record time. The company Biogénesis Bagó, a leading animal health company in research, production and development of solutions and services for the control of foot-and-mouth disease, has an antigen bank that allows it to attend to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease anywhere in the world in just 7 days.
Biogenesis Bago, as a world class service, continuously validates the cross protection against worldwide circulating foot-and-mouth disease virus strains, ensuring the updated effectiveness of the products that are supplied. This validation has been done through the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) international reference laboratories.
It is an insurance that provides us with quality vaccines, with effective coverage against different strains, even those that did have not previously circulated in a region. This allows us to be prepared to control an outbreak quickly and safely.
In a hyperconnected world, preventing or controlling the appearance of a disease such as foot-and-mouth disease is extremely important to mitigate the impact it can generate, not only on animal health, but also on the productivity of a country and the food security of the population. That is why it is key that all actors within the chain have a health strategy that provides them with information and tools that allow them to be prepared to act quickly.
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