The costs of preventive activities for exotic contagious diseases-A Danish case study of foot and mouth disease and swine fever.

The present paper provides an overview of the costs of preventive activities, currently undertaken in Denmark, related to foot and mouth disease (FMD) and classical and African swine fever (SF). Only costs held between outbreaks were included. Costs were divided into public costs and costs paid by the pig and cattle industries, respectively. Data were retrieved from multiple sources such as databases, legal documents, official statistics, yearly reports and expert opinions. As no previous studies have assessed such costs, data collection and estimation procedures were discussed and decided upon in a group of experts from universities, industry, and public authorities. The costs of each preventive activity were related to the type of activity, the number of times the activity was carried out and the share of costs that could be associated with FMD or SF. Uncertainty about parameters was incorporated in the analysis by assuming that the FMD/SF shares of costs as well as total costs for each activity could take on a most likely as well as a minimum and maximum value. A high degree of transparency was prioritized in the cost analysis, which enables reproducibility and easy access to conducting sensitivity analyses. A total of 27 FMD/SF preventive activities were identified. The estimated median (minimum-maximum) of total costs amounted to €32 (18-50) million in 2013. The single most costly FMD/SF related activity, amounting to €8 (5-13) million or 26% of total costs, was a national legal requirement to clean lorries immediately after transportation of live animals. The distribution of costs between stakeholders was estimated to be as follows: pig industry 63%, cattle industry 27%, and the public authorities 10%. Most of the activities focused on reducing the probability of spreading FMD/SF, while only a few activities were directed mainly towards reducing the probability of introduction. Legally required FMD/SF activities (mainly based on EU legislation) accounted for 60% of the activities, while FMD/SF related measures agreed on at sector level and measures implemented due to individual initiatives, such as farmer's investment in specially built delivery facilities, each accounted for 20%.