June 27, 2024
Overview:
Animal vaccines play an important role in maintaining the health of livestock and poultry, which in turn improves food safety and reduces the risk of zoonotic disease transmission to humans. Vaccinating animals not only benefits animal health –reducing infection burden and severity – it also promotes public health, food security, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability. However, the vaccination rates for food-producing animals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are much lower than in high-income countries. A co-authored One Health Trust study analyzed why, despite these clear benefits, food animal vaccination rates remain low in LMICs.
The question:
What are the barriers that make it difficult to develop and deliver animal vaccines in LMICs and how can these challenges be addressed?
The findings:
Several policy and funding gaps make it hard to routinely vaccinate livestock in LMICs. Better policies and more funding for vaccine development could close these gaps. Boosting animal vaccination rates could help fight climate change, lower pandemic risks, help tackle antibiotic resistance, and reduce poverty.
Read the article in Science here.
