What is foot and mouth disease?
Foot and mouth disease, FMD, is a serious livestock disease that is
found in most parts of the world. The World Health Organization has
listed 55 countries that have the disease including Africa, the Middle
East, and parts of Asia and South America. FMD affects cloven hoofed
animals such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, deer and pigs as well as
elephants, hedgehogs and some rodents.
The disease is caused by a virus and is spread from one animal to
another in saliva, mucous, milk or faeces. It can also be spread on
wool, hair, grass, straw, by the wind, clothing, livestock equipment or
on vehicle tyres.
Is the foot-and-mouth disease FMD affecting livestock in Europe
related to the hand, foot and mouth disease HFMD seen in some Asian
countries?
No, they are not related. They are two different viruses. FMD affects
hoofed animals while HFMD affects young children.
Is FMD harmful to humans?
Unless they are working closely with infected animals, humans rarely
catch the disease. Humans can be infected through skin wounds or direct
contact with the mucous membrane in the mouth. They can not contract the
disease through eating meat.
In the unlikely event that humans do contract FMD, the symptoms are
mild and similar to a temporary bout of the flu.
Is FMD harmful to the animals?
While FMD does not pose a health risk to humans, it can be fatal for
young cattle, sheep and hogs by causing inflammation of the heart
muscle.
The disease is generally not fatal in older animals. Cattle, sheep
and pigs infected with FMD develop a fever followed by blisters around
the mouth and feet but they can recover.
Infection drastically reduces milk production in cattle. Infected
animals also become weak and prone to other illnesses.
Why is it necessary to carry out mass slaughtering of animals in
FMD infected areas?
FMD is the most infectious animal disease known and there is no cure
for it. Unless the disease is stopped quickly, it can spread rapidly
through an entire region. This affects productivity and a country's
ability to export so the disease has profound impact on a country's
economy and agricultural sector. While vaccination is used in many
countries to control the disease, in an outbreak such as has occurred in
the UK, vaccination is infective in stopping the spread of the disease.
The only way to deal with an outbreak is to slaughter animals at sites
of infection.
If FMD is not harmful to humans, why are people in the UK being asked
to avoid infected sites?
Although the disease does not affect humans, they can spread the
virus through dirty shoes or clothing that have been in contaminated
areas. This is why many countries are disinfecting the footwear and
clothing of travellers from FMD-affected countries.
