A cost benefit analysis of vaccination against foot and mouth disease of bovines

The study was conducted to assess economic benefits of vaccination across sample village through personal interview methods. Total sums of 211 farm samples of dairy animals were collected for economic investigation. The analysis found that the disease incidence rate was quite low (73.56%) in vaccinated over non-vaccinated dairy animals (84.21%). Production loss was 28.40% and 16.63% less over non-vaccinated animals of crossbred and buffaloes, respectively. The cost of treatment was observed more in crossbred animals than the buffaloes. Total losses turned out to be the highest in non-vaccinated crossbred cows (7432.99), mainly due to increased losses in milk production followed by costly medicine for treatment. Vaccination in animals reduced the losses by 1838.19 in crossbreds and 799 in buffaloes. The study further suggests vaccination against Foot-and-mouth disease is profitable. The profitability of vaccination could further be increased, when applied selectively to animals run under increased risk of infections.