1. Introduction
Cambodia is a Southeast Asian country of 181,035 km2that shares borders with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) in the north, Thailand in the north and west, and Vietnam to the south and east. Cambodia is divided into 24 provinces and one municipality, with a population, estimated at 16.3 million (World Population Review, 2019). Agriculture is integral to the life of rural communities, with almost 90% of large ruminants owned by smallholder farmers (Pen, Savage, Stür, & Seng, 2009). The majority of smallholder farmers use traditional husbandry systems to raise their livestock, with cattle vital to rural smallholder farmer households. Most cattle are typically fed native grasses and rice straw, usually in a cut-and-carry system involving most of the household members, including women and children. This system is labor intensive, particularly when feed availability is low, as in the dry season, and where the majority of the land is under rice and other crop cultivation in the wet season.
For smallholder farmer households, cattle are both a source of income and an economic asset and are frequently managed together with other agriculture farming activities, including rice, production of other crops, small livestock raising and other off-farm activities (Samkol, Sath, Patel, Windsor, & Holtenius, 2015; Young et al., 2014b). Smallholder farmer cattle management systems are typically basic, and most smallholder farmers have a poor understanding of disease risks and basic biosecurity (Nampanya, Suon, Rast, & Windsor, 2012). Limitations to cattle production in Cambodia and Lao PDR have previously been attributed to poor animal feeding practices, poor reproductive performance, and poor herd health management and biosecurity practices by the farmer (Nampanya et al., 2012; Stur, Gray, & Bastin, 2002; Windsor, 2011; Windsor, Suon, & Khounsey, 2008).
Animal disease outbreaks pose significant threats to livestock sectors throughout the world, both from the economic impacts of the disease and the costs of mitigating the disease risk. In the developing world, livestock diseases have broad effects on markets, poverty, and livelihoods (Rich & Perry, 2011). Amongst animal diseases, foot and mouth disease (FMD) has perhaps received the most attention due to concerns that significant budgets are required to reduce the risks of global disease transmission. In the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), control of FMD has been particularly problematic (Blacksell, Siengsanan-Lamont, Kamolsiripichaiporn, Gleeson, & Windsor, 2019). FMD is endemic in the GMS and recognized as the most significant transboundary animal disease (TAD) affecting large ruminants, causing significant financial impacts at smallholder farmer household (Young et al., 2013) and the national level (Young, Nampanya, Khounsy, Bush, & Windsor, 2014a). The GMS is within FMD virus Pool 1, with recent epidemics involving isolates of O (Cathay, SEAMya-98, Pan Asia), A (SEA 97) and less commonly Asia 1 serotypes that have spread through much of South-East and eastern Asia, including Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Korea and Japan (Blacksell et al., 2019; Perry, Gleeson, Khounsey, Bounma, & Blacksell, 2002). Several studies in Cambodia and Laos PDR have indicated that the impact of FMD on smallholder farmers is high due to the reduction of cattle value at the household and village levels (Nampanya et al., 2015; Young, Suon, Andrews, Henry, & Windsor, 2012).
Many countries in the world have adopted various approaches and measures to control the spread of FMD, including vaccination, movement restrictions and biosecurity, improved surveillance, public awareness programs, and in some jurisdictions, destruction of infected animals (Keeling, Woolhouse, May, Davies, & Grenfell, 2002). Where FMD is endemic, six-monthly vaccination and restriction of the movement of infected animals and their products are considered critical interventions (Parida, 2009). FMD control in Cambodia has relied mainly on ring vaccination surrounding outbreaks, although the actual interventions depend on the local circumstances, including the availability of funds and the cost of FMD vaccines. Achieving adequate vaccination coverage to produce effective herd immunity, both nationally and within villages is a major challenge in Cambodia (Sieng & Kerr, 2013) with vaccination coverage of the national large ruminant population estimated at 2% in 2010 (Young et al., 2013). However, farmers generally have a poor understanding of the need for FMD vaccination and have financial constraints that limit investments in disease risk management (Ashley et al., 2018; Young et al., 2017).
With data lacking on the current participation of smallholder farmers in FMD control programs in Cambodia, this study was designed to collect information regarding the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of 300 smallholder farmers toward FMD vaccination programs and investigated several potential key factors associated with implementing FMD control programs in the study areas. This information is considered important in providing an improved understanding of the relevance of different disease control practices, potentially providing strategies to encourage smallholder farmers to consider investing in preventive disease programs involving FMD vaccination in their communities.