Economic Analysis Of Animal Diseases

Animal health and economics are closely linked. Any decision taken to prevent, control and eliminate an animal disease is based not only on the technical knowledge available about a particular disease but also on the effectiveness and socio-economic aspects associated with interventions and mitigation measures implemented by governments, producers and all the actors along the livestock value chains. Economic rationale drives decisions in assessing particular investments which are likely to result in a benefit for society or for a specific stakeholder, including livestock farmers and communities. These guidelines prepared by FAO will contribute to a better understanding of the importance of economic analysis when assessing the impact of a particular animal disease in production, trade, market access, food security and livelihoods of rural communities, or when designing or implementing an animal health strategy at national, regional or global level. This framework will provide a good communication tool between animal health technicians, veterinarians and economists in developing countries and will encourage a well informed collaboration between veterinarians, animal health experts, economists and social scientists for livestock and socio-economic development. Economic analysis should be an essential part of animal disease policies and disease management strategies.

Annotation. Illustrated with review studies on animal health economics, this book presents information on the most important economic tools applied to livestock, covering both theory and practical applications. Topics covered include gross margin analysis, partial budgeting, investment and financial appraisal and cost-benefit analysis. There are also sections on decision tree analysis, optimisation methods, value chain analysis, new institutional economics, DALYs and a range of policy analysis tools. International experts contribute on important theoretical and practical aspects of animal health and production economics, with global themes on livestock and poverty.

The confirmed case of "mad cow" disease (BSE) in June 2005 illustrates the economic impact of disease outbreaks, as additional countries closed their markets to U.S. beef and beef products. Emerging diseases also threaten public health-11 out of 12 of the major global disease outbreaks over the last decade were from zoonotic agents (that spread from animals to humans). Animal Health at the Crossroads: Preventing, Detecting, and Diagnosing Animal Diseases finds that, in general, the U.S. animal health framework has been slow to take advantage of state-of-the-art technologies being used now to protect public health; better diagnostic tests for identifying all animal diseases should be made a priority. The report also recommends that the nation establish a high-level, authoritative, and accountable coordinating mechanism to engage and enhance partnerships among local, state, and federal agencies, and the private sector.

Considering individual animals and herds as economic units makes health an economic consideration. Animal health economics is principally concerned with the economic decision making behind controlling animal diseases, from individual animals and local herds to the national herd and international disease control efforts. Climate change, the spread of exotic diseases, changes in national policies and the emergence of new diseases all impact upon animal health. This book discusses the tools and analysis behind measuring and evaluating animal health at various levels.

Epidemic disease outbreaks of zoonotic origin such as Avian Influenza, SARS or BSE are increasingly common lately. The thesis aims at exploring the underlying reasons for risks occurrence in the public health sector due to the increase in animal production. It adopts an economic perspective and compares human health systems and animal health systems. A comparative literature review is undertaken of animal health and its human health counterpart. It explores the underlying economic reasons for the weakening of public health and animal health systems. The role of the structural adjustment programmes, followed by market-based economic principles (especially privatisation of public services) is analysed. The market failures existing in this field are examined along with associated policy implications. Characteristic of the thesis is the underlying comparison of human and animal health systems from the funding mechanism to service delivery. In the latter case, community-based systems in both the human and animal fields are chosen as a comparative case-study.

This book provides an overview of the state of animal agriculture and present methodologies and proposals to develop policies that result in sustainable and profitable animal production that will protect human and environmental health, enhance livelihood of smallholders and meet consumer needs. The book combines lessons of the past, factual foundation to understand the present, analytical tools to design and improve policies, case studies that provide both empirical grounding and applications of some of the strategies suggested in this book, and finally, a proposal for the way forward.

Outbreaks of EIDs (emerging infectious diseases) can have huge negative impacts on the livestock sector, thereby disproportionally affecting certain stakeholder groups. The Dutch government has the use of multiple veterinary measures to prevent or control such outbreaks. However, not much is known about these EIDs. This study aims at providing a comparison of the total costs between EIDs at farm level. Four EIDs were chosen, based on characteristics such as zoonotic, infected ruminants are all vector borne. These were Epizootic hemorrhagic disease, Lumpy skin disease, Rift valley fever and Vesicular stomatitis. In an excel model epidemiological and economic input per EID was analyzed, followed by a sensitivity analysis.

This book on the economics of livestock disease insurance is organized into three major parts. Following an introduction (chapters 1-2), part II (chapters 3-8) includes a variety of discussions about what is known about how to build a livestock insurance programme. It begins with a look at the conceptual basis for government involvement in the management of livestock diseases, including prevention, control, regulation and eradication. This discussion is picked up by looking at incentive compatibility and insurability conditions in the private sector, emphasizing how livestock disease management is unique. Compensation is also examined, including what losses should be compensated, choosing a method to value the losses, determining the portion of losses to compensate, and outlining a potential role for insurance. Finally, the complexity of the risks at the farm level is demonstrated using a model that evaluates revenue insurance. Part III (chapters 9-20) offers a diverse discussion about disease management issues and programmes in Australia, Canada, Europe and the USA. These chapters include more discussion about how to build economically sound insurance programmes, and observations are based on modelling or observing case studies. The book has a subject index.