It was recently, in 2015, when the infectious lumpy skin disease first entered the Balkan Peninsula and started its rally by infecting cattle in several countries. Measures to control – or possibly eradicate – the disease differed in various countries, and a new FAO study assesses approaches in three of them (Albania, Bulgaria, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) to explore the cost-effectiveness of each. 

The methodology used in the study is transferrable to other countries and diseases, helping decision makers choose the most effective measures with the lowest economic and financial burdens for their national budgets and farmers.