The progressive control of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the Republic of Kazakhstan: Successes and challenges

Abstract

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has historically caused far-reaching economic losses to many regions worldwide. FMD control has been problematic, and the disease is still prevalent in many West and Central Asia countries. Here, we review the progress made by Kazakhstan in achieving freedom from FMD and discuss some of the challenges associated with maintaining the FMD-free status, as evidenced by the occurrence of an outbreak in 2022. A combination of zoning, movement control, vaccination, and surveillance strategies led to eliminating the disease in the country. However, the circulation of the FMD virus in the region still imposes a risk for Kazakhstan, and coordinated strategies are ultimately needed to support disease elimination. The results presented here may help design effective pathways to progressively eliminate the disease in West and Central Asia while promoting the design and implementation of regional actions to support FMD control.

Keywords: Kazakhstan; control; epidemiology; foot-and-mouth disease; vaccination.

Figure 1

The fourteen administrative units of Kazakhstan (thin borders) grouped into ten zones (thick borders designated in Roman, I–V, numerals) according to their foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) status (gray: with vaccination; white: without vaccination), as approved by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) in 2019. FMD outbreaks reported in 2011 (triangles), 2012 (squares), and 2013 (circles) caused by serotype O (black) and serotype A (white) FMD viruses are also indicated.