Texas A&M University-Commerce used the REMI PI+ model to simulate various responses to a hypothetical outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the Midwestern United States. Researchers compared fifteen separate vaccination protocols over a 10-year study period in order to calculate the impacts on gross domestic product and employment totals. Their results can be utilized by policy makers when considering vaccination strategies to combat the spread of FMD. The study discovered that responses relying solely on animal depopulation could lose approximately 677,000 jobs while losing $47 billion in GDP. The Sales industry, in particular, would face the highest job loss totals in the event of an FMD outbreak under all vaccination scenarios, followed by the construction and transportation sectors.
