Foot and mouth disease eradication policy: social impact and animal welfare

Santa Catarina is the only Brazilian state that does not immunize the bovine herd against foot and mouth disease. This article discusses the policy adopted for the foot and mouth disease in Santa Catarina, especially the non-vaccination, and relates this policy with ethical, human and animal welfare issues. Nine representatives of agricultural institutions in the state were interviewed, as well as, in a case study, seven families of farmers in Jóia - Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where foot and mouth disease occurred in 2000, leading to the sacrifice of 11,067 animals, most of them dairy animals. The majority of the agricultural institutions in Santa Catarina are contrary to vaccination, in order to keep and extend pig and poultry export markets. Concerns on social repercussions tended to concentrate on the effects on the income of the affected families. The case study in Jóia demonstrated that the life styles of the affected farmers were deeply harmed due to effects on human mental health, loss of income and changes in the local economy. The study concludes that the experience of a foot and mouth disease outbreak results in traumatic and long term consequences and that there is a need for policies that include social, ethical and environmental provisions, once animal welfare aspects and impacts on other areas of the economy are not contemplated in the public policy of animal sanitary defense.