Animal diseases come with important socioeconomic consequences at the farm, subnational, national and regional levels. Understanding the costs of animal disease outbreaks and related control measures is essential for efficient resource allocation, advocacy and resource mobilization, and economic evaluations. In 2022 an FAO spreadsheet-based tool called OuTCosT-Pig was developed to calculate the economic impact of outbreaks of swine disease. 

In 2022, under the EuFMD Fund for Applied Research (9th Call), a tool called OutCosT-RUM was designed to calculate the economic impact of outbreaks of disease in the ruminant population of a geographical region. It enables analysis of the cost of disease outbreaks and their control, whether actual epidemics or hypothetical scenarios. This means that the tool allows the retrospective calculation of an outbreak or epidemic, but also estimation of the potential cost of future outbreaks and alternative management strategies. 

OutCosT-RUM estimates the losses due to the occurrence of the disease and its control, and the costs associated with its prevention and/or treatments based on a deterministic model. Additionally, the tool dedicates a specific section on the qualitative assessment of some socioeconomic costs providing a framework to evaluate the implications of a disease on human and animal welfare, the socio-political context and the environment.

The tool has been validated with data from four different scenarios: Peste des petits ruminants and FMD in Bulgaria; Lumpy Skin Disease in Uzbekistan and Sheep and Goat Pox (SGP) in Greece.

Objective of the meeting

This webinar will introduce OutCosT -RUM, following its publication on the EuFMD Trello, thus allowing participants to understand the tool, its potential to support country authorities, and the resources and time needed for its implementation. The webinar will focus on the practical application and validation of the tool

Presenters: Jordi Casa, Giovanna Ciaravino (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona)