VS and their IS 
counterparts also 
work with foreign 
governments to 
eliminate animal 
diseases in other 
countries that 
threaten U.S. 
agriculture. 
6 Animal Health Programs 
To protect U.S. borders, APHIS works with 
PANAFTOSA, a South American organization 
created to eradicate FMD. An IS employee is 
stationed in South America to develop eradi- 
cation strategies and help affected countries 
implement those plans. APHIS contributes 
more than $1 million each year to eliminate 
the disease in South America. Additional 
funding is spent on maintaining an FMD- 
barrier program in Panama and Colombia 
and managing prevention programs in 
Central America and Mexico. 
In order to be recognized by APHIS as FMD 
free, a country must not discover any signs 
of the disease in its livestock for 1 year. 
During that period, countries are not 
allowed to use vaccinations as a means of 
protecting livestock against FMD. 
Suriname is the only South American coun- 
try that has never reported a case of FMD. 
French Guyana has been free of FMD with- 
out vaccination since 1953, and Guyana, 
since 1978. Chile has been free of FMD 
without vaccination since 1981. 
While eradication efforts are taking place 
throughout South America, the continent 
recently experienced a setback in the fight 
against FMD. Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay 
experienced animal-health emergencies in 
2001 with FMD outbreaks confirmed in all 
three countries. In Argentina and Brazil, the 
outbreaks devastated livestock populations 
in regions where the disease had already 
been eradicated. The disease was just as 
devastating to Uruguay, which had been free 
of FMD without vaccination since 1996. 
Despite these outbreaks, APHIS continues 
to work vigilantly in South America to 
eradicate FMD. Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia 
have initiated FMD eradication programs 
but will require significant assistance from 
neighboring countries and international 
organizations to eliminate the disease. 
APHIS’ goal is to eradicate FMD from all of 
South America by 2009. 
Working with the other programs of APHIS, 
State and Federal cooperators, and foreign 
sovernments, VS ensures that American 
agriculture is safe from foreign animal pests 
and diseases and competitive in foreign 
markets. 
For more information about APHIS 
programs, visit the APHIS homepage at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov 
