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Control of foot-and-mouth disease in a closed society: A case study of Soviet Estonia

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a dangerous infectious disease of even-toed ungulates, however since 1991, the European Union has banned preventive vaccination. During the occupation of the USSR, there were two outbreaks in Estonia: the first started in 1952 (at which time the barns typically housed...

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Autores principales: Kass, Marko, Viltrop, Arvo, Prakofjewa, Julia, Sõukand, Renata, Kalle, Raivo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9429994/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36061119
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.828583
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author Kass, Marko
Viltrop, Arvo
Prakofjewa, Julia
Sõukand, Renata
Kalle, Raivo
author_facet Kass, Marko
Viltrop, Arvo
Prakofjewa, Julia
Sõukand, Renata
Kalle, Raivo
author_sort Kass, Marko
collection PubMed
description Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a dangerous infectious disease of even-toed ungulates, however since 1991, the European Union has banned preventive vaccination. During the occupation of the USSR, there were two outbreaks in Estonia: the first started in 1952 (at which time the barns typically housed about 20 cows); and the second began in 1982 (a period when barns typically housed several 100 animals). Neither outbreak was reported to the international community. At that time, it was also forbidden to talk about the disease in the internal media, and speakers could be punished. This study sought to find answers as to how the disease was treated and eliminated in the Estonian SSR, how infected animals and milk were handled, and if some of the methods used can be applied today. Written archival sources and 29 interviews with specialists remembering the outbreaks were used. Preventive slaughter of animals in the USSR was prohibited during the outbreak. As a preventive measure vaccination was used, traveling out of their counties by people were restricted and disinfection mats were used on the roads. In sick animals, udder wounds were treated with various wound ointments, such as zinc ointment, but also ointment made from boiled spruce resin. Birch tar was also recommended in the literature for leg treatments. Mouth wounds were washed with potassium permanganate solution. Workers used rubber gloves when handling sick animals. The barns were disinfected with lime and ash water. The milk from the diseased cows was pasteurized and given to calves, pigs, or diseased animals. Animals that did not recover were transferred to a meat processing plant. The meat was kept in potassium permanganate solution before processing and canned or made into sausages. When the disease was discovered, farm workers were locked in barns and released only when the disease had been eliminated. Such inhumane treatment could only be practiced in a totalitarian society.
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spelling pubmed-94299942022-09-01 Control of foot-and-mouth disease in a closed society: A case study of Soviet Estonia Kass, Marko Viltrop, Arvo Prakofjewa, Julia Sõukand, Renata Kalle, Raivo Front Vet Sci Veterinary Science Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a dangerous infectious disease of even-toed ungulates, however since 1991, the European Union has banned preventive vaccination. During the occupation of the USSR, there were two outbreaks in Estonia: the first started in 1952 (at which time the barns typically housed about 20 cows); and the second began in 1982 (a period when barns typically housed several 100 animals). Neither outbreak was reported to the international community. At that time, it was also forbidden to talk about the disease in the internal media, and speakers could be punished. This study sought to find answers as to how the disease was treated and eliminated in the Estonian SSR, how infected animals and milk were handled, and if some of the methods used can be applied today. Written archival sources and 29 interviews with specialists remembering the outbreaks were used. Preventive slaughter of animals in the USSR was prohibited during the outbreak. As a preventive measure vaccination was used, traveling out of their counties by people were restricted and disinfection mats were used on the roads. In sick animals, udder wounds were treated with various wound ointments, such as zinc ointment, but also ointment made from boiled spruce resin. Birch tar was also recommended in the literature for leg treatments. Mouth wounds were washed with potassium permanganate solution. Workers used rubber gloves when handling sick animals. The barns were disinfected with lime and ash water. The milk from the diseased cows was pasteurized and given to calves, pigs, or diseased animals. Animals that did not recover were transferred to a meat processing plant. The meat was kept in potassium permanganate solution before processing and canned or made into sausages. When the disease was discovered, farm workers were locked in barns and released only when the disease had been eliminated. Such inhumane treatment could only be practiced in a totalitarian society. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-08-01 /pmc/articles/PMC9429994/ /pubmed/36061119 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.828583 Text en Copyright © 2022 Kass, Viltrop, Prakofjewa, Sõukand and Kalle. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Veterinary Science
Kass, Marko
Viltrop, Arvo
Prakofjewa, Julia
Sõukand, Renata
Kalle, Raivo
Control of foot-and-mouth disease in a closed society: A case study of Soviet Estonia
title Control of foot-and-mouth disease in a closed society: A case study of Soviet Estonia
title_full Control of foot-and-mouth disease in a closed society: A case study of Soviet Estonia
title_fullStr Control of foot-and-mouth disease in a closed society: A case study of Soviet Estonia
title_full_unstemmed Control of foot-and-mouth disease in a closed society: A case study of Soviet Estonia
title_short Control of foot-and-mouth disease in a closed society: A case study of Soviet Estonia
title_sort control of foot-and-mouth disease in a closed society: a case study of soviet estonia
topic Veterinary Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9429994/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36061119
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.828583
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