The Hourly Costof Delays inFMD Detection

The United Kingdom took 21 days to detect an outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) in 2001.

Its economy lost $11.5 billion.

FAZD Center economists asked, “How much would a delay in detection cost per hour in the U.S.?”

They used an epidemiological

model – coupled with

economic analyses – to

evaluate a hypothetical FMD

outbreak in the Central Valley

of California.

The economists examined the

increased cost per hour of

delay between 21 and 22

days.

CentralValley

Their analysis:

For each hour an

FMD outbreak is

undetected in the

Central Valley

between Days 21

and 22, the

economy loses an

estimated $4.3

million.

per hour undetected

$4.3million

lost

Early detection results uniformly in:

• Fewer deaths among livestock.

• Lower costs for mitigating the disease.

• Less harm to the agriculture economy.

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