Wen‐Bin Chung

Between March and July 1997, a devastating outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), serotype O, occurred in pigs in Taiwan. A total of 6,147 pig farms with more than 4 million pigs were infected, and 37.7 per cent of the pigs in Taiwan either died (0.18 million pigs) or were killed (3.85 million pigs). The epidemic reached its peak during the fifth week after it was first recognised. During the eighth and ninth weeks, a two-dose blanket vaccination programme was instituted which led to a large reduction in new outbreaks. Except for two cities, the whole of Taiwan was declared an FMD-infected zone. During the four months in which new farm outbreaks occurred, 21.7 per cent of the pigs on infected farms showed clinical signs, and there was an overall mortality of 3.95 per cent. During the early stages of the epidemic, the incubation period was as short as 24 hours and the case fatality rates for suckling piglets reached 100 per cent. The financial cost of the epidemic was estimated at US$ 378.6 million, including indemnities, vaccines, carcase disposal plus environmental protection, miscellaneous expenses, and loss of market value. Owing to the ban on exports of pork to Japan, it is estimated that the total economic cost to Taiwan's pig industry will be about US$ 1.6 billion.

Baculovirus-expressed foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) nonstructural protein 3AB was used as the antigen in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. This assay allowed the differentiation of vaccinated from infected pigs. Serial studies were performed using sera collected from pigs in the field. Positive reactions were found in sera from fattening pigs and sows 16 weeks and 3.5 years postoutbreak, respectively. There was, however, no positive reaction in sows with at least 10 vaccinations. Maternally derived antibodies to the 3AB antigen persisted in piglets up to 13 weeks of age. A high correlation coefficient (r = 0.93) was found between the test results from sow sera and those from their offspring. Therefore, piglet serum was a good substitute for sow serum to monitor the infection status of the dam. The application of this assay to serological surveillance in an FMD eradication program in Taiwan showed that the positive reactors steadily decreased over time in both finishers and sows, indicating that the pig population risk of infection by FMDV has decreased.