Todayโs path rounds are on ๐๐จ๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐๐ฌ๐!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
๐
๐จ๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐๐ฌ๐ (FMD) is a viral disease of significant economic importance in food production species. Outbreaks of this disease can have disastrous consequences for agriculture, such as the 2001 outbreak in the United Kingdom that was estimated to cost ยฃ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง and resulted in the destruction of more than ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง sheep and cattle.
๐๐ก๐จ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
We this condition in ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ง-๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฌ, or species with two toes on each foot! This includes sheep, cattle, pigs and wildlife species.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
Foot and mouth disease is caused by a ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐จ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ, which is transmitted by direct contact with an infected animal or contacting that animalโs secreted fluids, like saliva or milk. The virus enters the body primarily through inhalation or ingestion, where it replicates in the ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ง๐ฑ (throat). Here it accesses the ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ (draining vessels) and spreads throughout the body. The virus characteristically produces ๐ฏ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ, which are basically blisters on the skin surface. These vesicles most commonly occur around the hooves and in the mouth.
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ?
The vesicles formed by the virus are quite painful, and can cause lameness and ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ ๐ข๐ (difficulty eating). The virus also causes a high fever. Young animals are most severely affected due to damage to their heart, causing sudden death. However, the real problem with FMD is how infective it is! The virus can be spread by clothes, vehicles, equipment, feed or even wildlife moving between farms, which is why it is so costly to contain outbreaks.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฌ๐๐?
Diagnosis is made using a ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ, which detects the genes of the virus directly.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐? ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐?
Most countries do not allow treatment of affected animals, as they are too risky to keep around to potentially infect others. Cattle that survive the infection can continue to carry the virus for up to 3.5 years! So, most countries focus on prevention through culling all animals on infected farms, restricting and tracing animal movements, and testing all animals imported into the country.
๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ฌ
1-5) The characteristic blisters of FMD in the mouth and around the hooves!
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ
Maxie, G. Jubb, Kennedy and Palmerโs Pathology of Domestic Animals, Volume 2. Sixth Edition.
Belsham GJ, Botner A, Lohse L. Foot-and-mouth disease in animals. Merck Veterinary Manual 2021.
Photos 1-5 ยฉ Noahโs Arkive contributors Adsit, Dark, King licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
