Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) causes acute fever in cloven-hoofed livestock, leading to economic loss in endemic regions. India, the largest dairy producer and consumer, has started mass vaccination of its bovine population with inactivated vaccines through the FMD control program and the National Animal Disease Control Program. Effective sero-surveillance activities, such as non-structural protein ELISA, are crucial for the success of the disease control program.
A novel statistical approach for sero-surveillance parameter estimation is proposed for FMD-endemic countries like India. The approach estimates NSP sero-prevalence rates at population-level, providing real-time estimates for control programs. The study establishes a relationship between estimated sero-prevalence rates and FMD outbreaks, allowing for future studies and extension to other viral diseases.