Merck Animal Health Honors New Foot-and-Mouth Disease Research

Awards Presented to Four Young Scientists at the Global Foot-and-Mouth Disease Research Alliance 2015 Scientific Meeting

MADISON, N.J., November 11, 2015 – Merck Animal Health (known as MSD Animal Health outside the USA and Canada) is proud to announce the presentation of awards to four young scientists at the Global Foot-and-Mouth Disease Research Alliance (GFRA) 2015 Scientific Meeting held in Hanoi Vietnam, in honor of their research in disease-endemic areas. In an effort to recognize individuals who embody the company’s commitment to the Science of Healthier Animals, Syed Jamal of Pakistan and Nguyen Van Long of Vietnam were honored for best oral presentations, and Raphael Sallu of Tanzania and Truong Dinh Bao of Vietnam were honored for best poster presentations.

“Receiving the award of best poster encourages me to work more in this domain,” said winner Truong Dinh Bao. “GFRA is a useful meeting to share and be informed of research being conducted all over the world, and it also indicates important gaps in knowledge that can lead us to conduct further research.”

“Every year, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) causes enormous economic losses to the livestock industry resulting from morbidity in adult animals, reduced animal productivity, mortality in young stock and restriction to international trade in animals and animal products due to sanitary control measures, and affects more than 100 countries around the world,” added winner Dr. Syed Jamal, University of Malakand, Pakistan. “Further research on epidemiology of the disease, diagnostics, characterization of FMD virus and vaccinology is required to improve control of the disease in endemic areas and to reduce the threat to the disease-free areas.”

The winning presentations were:

• “Molecular Characterisation of Recently Isolated Foot and-Mouth Disease Viruses in Tanzania,” Raphael Sallu, Tanzania
• “An Innovative Way to Evaluate Farmers’ Perception of Foot-and-Mouth Vaccination in Vietnam,” Truong Dinh Bao, Vietnam
• “Evidence for Multiple Recombination Events Within Genomes of FMDVs Circulating in West Eurasia,” Syed Jamal, Pakistan
• “A Study on Animal movement and Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Central Vietnam from March to August 2014,” Nguyen Van Long, Vietnam
  

“We are proud to honor young scientists and encourage further research to help manage the complexities of foot-and-mouth disease where it is most needed,” said Alasdair King, director, Intergovernmental Veterinary Health, Merck Animal Health. “Merck Animal Health is committed to fostering innovations that will help governments better respond to outbreaks, including the recent development of a mapping tool that shows the impact of a response strategy over a five-year period.”

FMD is widespread in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. In parts of the developing world where farmers rely on animals to pull plows, an outbreak of FMD can destroy a farmer’s ability to produce food, impacting income and greatly limiting agricultural trade.
The GFRA Meeting, brings research scientists from all over the world together to discuss progress regarding vaccines, diagnostic assays, role of carriers and the socioeconomic impact of FMD. For more information about the Meeting, visit http://gfra2015.org/.

About Merck Animal Health
Today’s Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck Animal Health, known as MSD Animal Health outside the United States and Canada, is the global animal health business unit of Merck. Through its commitment to the Science of Healthier Animals™, Merck Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest range of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services. Merck Animal Health is dedicated to preserving and improving the health, well-being and performance of animals. It invests extensively in dynamic and comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global supply chain. Merck Animal Health is present in more than 50 countries, while its products are available in some 150 markets. For more information, visit www.merck-animal-health.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter at @MerckAH.

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