Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim has received a contract from the United States Department of Agriculture for supplying a vaccine bank that will protect US livestock from foot-and-mouth disease, it was reported on Wednesday.

The contract requires the company to develop and maintain a strategic reserve of frozen vaccine antigen concentrate that the company can formulate into a vaccine for the disease in case of an outbreak in the US.

Steve Boren, vice president of the US Livestock Business at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, said, 'As a global leader in the storage and management of FMD vaccine banks, with FMD expertise dating back more than 70 years, Boehringer Ingelheim constantly monitors emerging disease threats.'