Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a highly contagious, acute viral disease of cloven hoofed animals, and economically important disease affecting the livestock sector in most developed and developing countries. It infects a wide host range of domestic and wild animals and is easily transmitted by aerosols, direct and indirect contact, as well as by ingestion. The disease is caused by the genus Aphthovirus of the family picornaviridae, which occurs as seven distinct serotypes :O, A, C, SAT1, SAT2, SAT3 and Asia1, and has worldwide distribution. This study was conducted with the objectives of serotypes identification of FMD virus and financial impacts in an outbreak occurred in Haramaya University Dairy Farm, Eastern Ethiopia. Epithelial tissues from unruptured or freshly ruptured vesicular lesions were collected from animals manifesting clinical signs of FMD and transported to the National Veterinary Institute (NVI), at Debra Zeit for virological examinations. From the total of eight epithelial tissues sampled, cytopathic effect was observed in 62.5% (n=5) of the samples on the Baby Hamster Kidney (BHK-21) cultured cell. RNA extraction was conducted from samples showing cytopathetic effect on BHK-21 cell by ReverseTranscriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction protocols and serotyping of FMD virus was done by applying agarose gel-electrophores is protocol at the NVI. Only serotype O was identified from samples collected during the outbreak. Besides these, important data were gathered from recorded data in the farm and interviewed with head of the farm to estimate characteristic of outbreak and financial impacts from the outbreak. The farm lost 61,307.6 Birr due to milk production loss, costs related to treatment and control, and one aborted fetus during outbreak.

Keywords: Financial impact, Foot and Mouth Disease , Serotype, Virus isolation