Dr. Muhammad Afzal of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) holds a bottle of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine to show it becomes cloudy when it warms and is no longer usable. USDA helps keep FMD vaccinations cold and viable through its Program for the Progressive Control of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Pakistan.

Dr. Muhammad Afzal of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) holds up a bottle of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine to show what happens when the cold chain is broken. The vaccine is spoiled, cloudy with precipitates and no longer effective. Fortunately, this was a test bottle and 500,000 additional doses of vaccine are safely stored in a modern cold room provided by USDA as part of its Program for the Progressive Control of FMD in Pakistan.  Read more »

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.

This week marks the 19^th year of World Water Day. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development designated this day as an annual international event focusing on the importance of sustaining and managing fresh water resources.  This year’s theme is water and food security.  This is such a critical issue to not only to our international friends, but also for U.S. farmers, ranchers, growers, consumers, and conservationists. Read more »