In 2012, during the XII Meeting of the Hemispheric Committee for the Eradication of Foot and Mouth Disease (COHEFA), the countries of the Americas requested PANAFTOSA to conduct a technical study with the participation of experts from the countries of the region for the future creation of a regional antigen/vaccine bank.

The final proposal for the establishment of the Regional Bank of Foot-and- Mouth Disease Antigens - BANVACO - was finalized in December 2018 and distributed to all member countries in 2019. More information at https://www.paho.org/es/panaftosa/banvaco.

La vacunación de emergencia es una medida universalmente aceptada para el control de brotes de fiebre aftosa porque puede reducir las pérdidas económicas.

Emergency vaccination is a universally accepted measure for controlling foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks because it can reduce economic losses.

A foot-and-mouth disease–free country without vaccination has six available control strategies in the event of an outbreak, depending on the decisions made regarding the two mentioned health measures. In contrast, a disease-free country with vaccination has three control strategies available.

However, if a country decides not to use emergency vaccination to control an outbreak, the available control strategies are reduced to two in the case of free countries without vaccination, and to one for disease- free countries with vaccination. This highlights the critical importance of having the option to implement emergency vaccination in the event of a a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in a free country. Therefore, having the option of using emergency vaccination requires a series of actions and coordinated efforts well in advance of appearance of an outbreak.

Having a bank of vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease is of utmost importance, as it can support countries in more effectively controlling an outbreak in a region, reducing the impact and serious economic and social implications that this disease causes.

Foot and mouth disease can be caused by seven distinct viral serotypes, which do not confer cross-immunity, in addition, multiple subtypes have been identified within some of these serotypes. Therefore, vaccines used in an emergency must be serotype-specific and in certain cases subtype-specific.  

Therefore, when faced with an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, the serotype and subtype involved must be identified so that, in the event that emergency vaccination is used, the vaccine that produces protection in animals can be verified. The vaccine must then be produced, distributed and administered to animals to help contain the outbreak. In particular, once the vaccine strain that produces immunity has been identified, a laboratory that has the vaccine strain must be used to produce the vaccine in a short period of time in the quantity that the country requires to control the outbreak. This entire process takes time.

Free countries have solved this problem by creating reserve banks of antigens and vaccines.

A vaccine antigen bank is a strategic reserve of frozen viral antigen concentrate of specific viral serotypes that a laboratory can rapidly formulate into a vaccine in the event of a disease outbreak.
The terms "vaccine bank" and "antigen bank" are often used interchangeably. However, the antigen for a foot-and-mouth disease vaccine is the inactivated virus that is kept frozen and formulated into a vaccine only when needed.

The discovery that viral antigens can be inactivated, concentrated and stored at low temperatures for extended periods with minimal or no loss of immunogenicity created the basis for the establishment of Antigen Banks, which can be rapidly reconstituted and formulated into potent FMD vaccines within 4–14 days.

Prepared FMD vaccines have a short shelf life, whereas frozen antigen concentrate can be stored for many years. It is neither efficient nor cost-effective to preventively formulate and store vaccines that may not be used, especially since it is impossible to predict which viral strains may emerge.

The antigen bank provides the flexibility to formulate ready-to-use vaccines, as needed, for specific FMD strains associated with any specific outbreak.

The first national antigen bank against foot and mouth disease was established by Denmark in 1976.

In 1982, the North American Vaccine Bank (NAVB) was established with the participation of the United States, Mexico and Canada.

In 1985 the International Vaccine Bank (IVB) was established in Pirbright, Surrey, to support the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden during foot- and- mouth disease emergencies. The IVB operates as a non-commercial, intergovernmental entity combining antigen conservation with the capacity to formulate and test vaccines. Member countries pay an annual subscription to cover maintenance costs, which includes the acquisition of new antigens and the replacement of those withdrawn.

The European Union Vaccine Bank (EUVB) was established in 1991 to serve its member states. It holds the equivalent of 500 to one million doses of various vaccine strains stored, at two national institutes located in two different countries.

These three banks are known to maintain reserves of antigens for all serotypes; however, for reasons of national security, the details of the stored reserves were not published. In addition to these international banks, according to data published in Europe, 13 countries maintain additional antigen reserves.

In South America, where all countries are free of foot-and-mouth disease with or without vaccination, except for Venezuela, there is only one antigen bank, located in Argentina and established 1999. This bank holds reserves of the viral serotypes that have been endemic in the region, as well as some extra-regional serotypes. However, this private antigen bank was created only to control an outbreak in Argentine territory.

In summary, the foot-and-mouth disease-free countries on the continent, with the exception of Argentina, the United States and Canada, do not have reserves of foot-and-mouth disease antigens that would enable them to formulate vaccines for emergency vaccination in response to any serotype of the foot-and-mouth disease virus.

BANVACO is understood as the union of its members, who have decided to join forces around the central objective of the project.

BANVACO does not involve a new physical facility or a legal personality, instead its management will be at the headquarters of PANAFTOSA/SPV-PAHO/WHO. The stock of antigens and vaccines maintained by member countries will be stored at the facilities of vaccine suppliers in the region through specific contractual agreements.

This project aims to establish an antigen bank for all strains (regional and extra regional) considered to be at greatest risk of spread in the region, ensuring the effective and specific availability of immunobiologicals for the emergency containment of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks.

The management of BANVACO was entrusted to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), through the Pan American Center for Foot -and- Mouth Disease and Veterinary Public Health - PANAFTOSA/SPV-PAHO/WHO, due to its status as a supranational entity and its neutrality, this decision it is extensive expertise in managing the disease, as well as in the acquisition, maintenance, and distribution of antigens and vaccines in the field of human health.

For over 40 years, the Vaccine Access Revolving Fund has enabled member states and territories in the region to access dozens of safe, high-quality vaccines at affordable prices.

By consolidating demand requirements, leveraging economies of scale, promoting transparent negotiations with suppliers and implementing innovative procurement strategies, the Revolving Fund has enhanced countries' purchasing power, thereby lowering vaccine prices and contributing to the sustainability of national immunization strategies.

Through the Fund, 41 countries in the Americas have access to safe, quality vaccines for humans at a price up to 75% lower than if purchased individually.

All countries of the Americas can join BANVACO and are required to jointly finance the bank's fixed costs related to its administrative operations. The greater the number of participating countries, the lower the fixed costs for each member. The BANVACO Board of Directors, composed of a delegate from each member country, determines the percentage of the annual budget that corresponds to each member country. Initially, the fixed costs were calculated at USD 25,000 per member country for the first year, with the possibility of reducing this amount as additional countries join and upon approval of the annual work plans.

Variable costs, on the other hand, correspond to the stock of antigens maintained in the bank and will depend on the sovereign decision of each member country on when regarding the timing and quantity of antigens and vaccine production required to an emergency.

It is worth mentioning that the acquisition and maintenance of antigens in an international Bank enable economies of scale, synergies and leveraging of results, while also contributing to the harmonization and coordination of emergency preparedness for foot-and-mouth disease at global and regional levels.

Absolutly not.

A country free of vaccination should also be part of BANVACO, because the project has a different objective, which is to maintain reserves of antigens of all viral serotypes of foot-and-mouth disease, that currently pose a risk to countries on the continent. These reserves are intended for use in emergency vaccination to control an outbreak.

In fact, the first two countries that signed their accession were countries that systematically vaccinate their animals: Paraguay (2021) and Ecuador (2023).

A country free of vaccination should also be part of BANVACO, as the project's objective is different: to maintain reserves of antigens for all viral serotypes of foot-and-mouth disease that currently pose a risk to countries on the continent. These reserves are intended for use in emergency vaccination to control an outbreak.

There is no impediment for a country to establish its own vaccine and antigen bank. In fact, countries in North America and Europe that are free from diseases have their own reserves in addition to their membership in a regional bank.

Belonging to a regional bank is strategic, especially because the prevention of foot-and-mouth disease should be addressed with a regional perspective.

Not necessarily  

Emergency vaccination can be implemented to protect healthy animals from spreading the virus outside the containment area, including in international border regions, in the event of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in neighbouring countries.