Key result
Increasing cattle traceability fails to offset its minimum annual costs during foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks.
Why the study?
The economic impacts of different levels of cattle traceability during a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Ontario were not well understood.
Increasing cattle traceability during an FMD outbreak in Ontario provides economic benefits that are outweighed by the annual costs of the traceability system.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May not justify expanded traceability in Ontario beef cattle; leaves open whether refined models or scenarios alter cost-benefit balance.
The research reported in this paper created an epidemiological foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) spread model for Ontario. Disease simulations were constructed to reflect three levels of the cattle identification and movement recording system. Outputs generated by the epidemiological model are used to calculate the direct disease control costs of a FMD outbreak. Welfare effects caused by a FMD outbreak are also calculated for each level of cattle traceability using an equilibrium displacement model. Parameter sensitivity was tested for both the epidemiological and economic model results. It is found that the benefits to the beef cattle industry of increasing the ability to trace direct animal contacts during a FMD disease outbreak in Ontario are less than the lowest annual cost estimate of a cattle traceability system as estimated by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
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Jason Jones (2011) studied Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Cattle traceability system vs. Different levels of traceability was evaluated on Direct disease control costs and welfare effects. The economic benefits to the beef cattle industry of increasing cattle traceability during a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Ontario are less than the lowest annual cost estimate of the system.
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