foot-and-mouth disease
foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) (hoof-and-mouth disease) Highly infectious viral disease affecting practically all cloven-hoofed mammals, including cattle, sheep, pigs (not carriers), and goats. The disease does not affect humans or horses. It is characterized by fever, followed by the eruption of blisters mainly in the mouth and around the hoofs. Lameness is the most noticeable sign. The average incubation period is 3–8 days. Foot-and-mouth is often fatal for young animals and reduces the yield from milk-producing animals. The virus is largely present in the discharge from blisters, but also occurs in the saliva, milk and dung of infected animals. Wind may also spread the virus over large distances. The mortality rate in mild epizootics is c.5%, but malignant foot-and mouth has caused losses of up to 50%. The traditional method of controlling the disease has been to rigorously quarantine areas of outbreak, and quickly slaughter and dispose of all infected or susceptible animals. An alternative or complementary method is vaccination. This method is costly and not effective against all seven strains of foot-and-mouth. A 1967 outbreak in the UK led to the slaughter of more than 430,000 animals. Another outbreak in 2001 resulted in the killing of more than 3 million animals. In the USA, the last major outbreak was in 1929.
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foot-and-mouth disease