AUDIO: Liz Wagstrom, Chief Veterinarian at the National Pork Producers Council
Many livestock groups including veterinarians have stressed a need for a Foot and Mouth Disease vaccine bank in the next farm bill.
Liz Wagstrom is chief veterinarian at the National Pork Producers Council.
?We know if we had an outbreak of FMD all trade would stop. Over 25% of pork is exported. Our farmers would suffer tremendously with losing export markets.?
Wagstrom says its also important to have a vaccine bank to help stop the spread of the disease. The livestock industry has been free of the disease since 1929 but the industry has big concerns.
?We now have a much more global economy where people and products move more quickly. We?ve had a couple of emerging diseases when we had Porcine Epidemic Diahrea and Seneca Virus A. We know they?ve emerged and think they may have come from foreign countries,? Wagstrom adds.
She says we know we are vulnerable and need to be prepared.
NPPC has been pushing for funding a new vaccine bank in the 2018 farm bill.
