Foot-and-mouth disease in the Malaysia-Thailand-Burma peninsula: addressing disease at the source

摘要

The Malaysia-Thailand-Myanmar (Burma) (MTM) zone was established in 2003 following a decision by the South-East Asia Foot-and-Mouth Disease Campaign (SEAFMD) in 2001 to establish a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)-free zone within South-East Asia as an effective way to control FMD in the region. The MTM peninsula was selected based on favourable geographic features (Banks 2004) and strong political support from the proposed member countries. The MTM zone comprises the southern division of Burma, regions eight and nine of Thailand and the whole of Peninsular Malaysia (see Figure 1) (Turton 2004). As a prototype for later zoning initiatives in the region, the MTM is an important component of the SEAFMD campaign. However, almost 10 years since the MTM zone was conceptualised, FMD continues to occur on a regular basis throughout much of the zone (OIE 2010).