| Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Update | FMD Articles |
| Preventative Measures | FMD/BSE Comparison Chart |
| FMD Links | BSE Links |
Foot and Mouth Update
Foot and mouth disease (FMD) has been making worldwide news as outbreaks
in the United Kingdom and other European Union countries have grown and international
concern has mounted. Holstein Association USA will be providing information
updates on this issue ranging from outbreak counts and locations to preventative
measures the U.S. is taking, as well as links to domestic and international
agencies and organizations that are on the leading edge of treatment, prevention
and coverage of this animal disease.
While the US has been free of FMD since 1929, this highly contagious and economically
devastating viral disease of cattle and swine is one that producers fear most.
FMD is not recognized as a zoonotic disease, but it does also effect sheep,
goats, deer and other cloven-hooved ruminants. The disease does not affect food
safety or human health
FMD is characterized by fever and blister-like lesions followed by erosions
on the tongue and lips, in the mouth, on the teats, and between the hooves.
Effected animals may recover, but the disease leaves them debilitated and causes
severe loss in production of milk and meat.
Because of the wide and rapid spreading of FMD, as well as its grave economic
and clinical consequences, the threat of FMD is taken very seriously, and has
led to the canceling of a wide variety of events, shows and gatherings such
as livestock shows, rugby matches and St. Patrick's Day celebrations throughout
Ireland Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England.
The Holstein Association USA's counterpart covering the most heavily impacted
area, Holstein UK and
Ireland (HUKI), is providing current coverage of the outbreaks, and is reminding
members that updated registration information and pedigrees will be needed to
obtain the appropriate premium value for their animals.
For more information on FMD, visit the sites listed below.
Preventative Measures to take on your operation*
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Do not allow foreign visitors on the farm unless they have been "decontaminated." For example, clean clothing should be put on before entering the farm and visitors' footwear should be cleaned with household disinfectant or vinegar. |
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Allow a minimum of 14 days to pass before permitting individuals to come on your farm if they have had prior contact with livestock outside of the US |
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Adopt a hygiene program for visitors that includes disposable boots and coveralls. |
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Veterinary equipment should be disinfected between use of groups of animals, farms and individual cows. |
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Foot-trimming equipment should be disinfected and cleaned between use. |
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Animal identification equipment should be disinfected and cleaned between use. |
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Restrict unauthorized vehicles from entering animal-production areas. |
Foot and Mouth Links
Holstein UK and Ireland
(HUKI)
Ministry
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) FMD Information (UK)
USDA Home Page
APHIS Home Page
American Food Industry Association
(AFIA)
The Guardian
(UK) FMD News
AVIS Consortium FMD
News
Office International
Des Epizooties
MAFF
Facts on FMD
MAFF
How to Protect Your Farm Factsheet
MAFF
FMD Signs in Cattle
Online Articles
on FMD
CNN In-depth
Special on FMD
Farm
Journal Editorial: A Virus to Fear
Secretary of Agriculture Anne Veneman has stated that "Americans are confusing foot-and-mouth disease, which is harmless to people, with rarer mad cow disease, which has been linked to a fatal human illness." Veneman, like most leaders and agencies in the agricultural industry around the world, is trying to make sure that people understand there is a difference between the two diseases. Below is a chart providing some basic information on the diseases, their epidemiology, transmission, signs and more.
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Foot and Mouth Disease
(FMD) |
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)
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| Causative Agent | Virus | Prion, an unconventional infectious protein similar to that causing scrapie of sheep and goats. |
| Inactivated By | Sodium Hydroxide 2% Sodium Carbonate 4% Citric Acid 0.2% Progressive inactivation by temperatures above 50C. |
Sodium Hypochlorite with 2% available chlorine. |
| Resistant To | Preserved by refrigeration and freezing | Preserved by refrigeration and freezing |
| Survival | Survives in lymph nodes and bone marrow at neutral pH. Can persist in contaminated feed and the environment for up to one month. | Survives in postmortem after wide range of rendering processes. |
| Epidemiology | One of the most contagious diseases with important economic losses. Low mortality rate in adult animals; often high mortality in young calves due to myocarditis. |
Incidence during course of epidemic in the
UK has been low. Within affected herds, the annual incidence was 3%. This
is a fatal disease in cattle and euthanasia on welfare grounds is necessary.
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| Transmission |
Direct or indirect contact (droplets) Animate vectors
(humans, etc.) Inanimate vectors
(vehicles, implements) Airborne, especially
temperate zones (up to 38 miles overland and 188 miles be seas) |
Result of dietary exposure to feedstuffs infected meat and bone meal (MBM) No evidence of horizontal
transmission between cattle Occurrence of new
variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) suggests transmission to humans
via oral exposure (eating meat cuts with bone marrow) BSE is not contagious,
therefore laboratory handling aims to prevent accidental ocular and oronasal
exposures. |
| Source | Virus | Agent located at Central Nervous System (including eye) |
| Occurrence | Endemic in parts of Asia, Middle East and South America (sporadic outbreaks in free areas) | Primary occurrence in the UK. There are cases in other countries as a result of the export of infected cattle or MBM from the UK |
| Diagnosis | Incubation period 2 -14 days | Incubation period 4 - 5 years |
| Clinical Signs (Cattle) |
Fever Lack of appetite Shivering Reduction of milk
for 2-3 days then smacking of the lips, grinding of teeth, drooling, lameness,
stamping and kicking of the feet (caused by vesicles on buccal or nasal
mucous membrane and/or between the claws and coronary band after 24 hours) Rupture of vesicle
(blisters) leaving erosions (vesicles can also occur on the mammary gland) Recovery generally
occurs within 8 - 15 days |
Progressive neurological disorders (apprehension, fear, increased startle,
depression or tremor) Muscle fasciculation Autonomic dysfunction
(reduced rumination, altered heart rhythm) Loss of weight and
condition |
| Lesions | Vesicles or blisters on the tongue, dental pad, gums, cheek, hard and soft palate, lips, nostril, muzzle, coronary bands, udder, dewclaws and interdigital spaces | A characteristic spongiform encephalopathy is present in most cases |
| Impact | Tongue erosion, Superinfection of lesions, hoof deformation, mastitis and permanent impairment of milk production, abortion, death of young animals, permanent loss of weight | There is no effective
treatment and clinically suspects must be killed. |
| Differential Diagnosis | Vesicular Stomatitis, Rinderpest,
Mucosal Disease , IBR, Bluetongue, BVD, Bovine Papular Stomatitis Laboratory test required for identification agent |
Hypomagnesaemia Nervous Ketosis Intra-cranial tumors Polioencephalomalacia or Cerebro-cortical necrosis |
| Prevention and Control | Protection of free zones by control of animal movement at the border and surveillance. Slaughter of infected, recovered and FMD-susceptible contact animals. Disinfection of premises and all infected material (implements, cars, clothes, etc.), Destruction of dead animals, litter and susceptible animals in infected areas; quarantine | Free Countries: Targeted pathological
and surveillance to occurrence of clinical neurological disease; safeguards
on importation of live ruminants and their products; policy and procedures
for importation of embryos; effective identification and tracing of cattle Countries with cases on cattle: Slaughter and compensation; control on recycling mammalian protein; effective identification and tracing of cattle |
BSE Links
Ministry
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) BSE information (UK)
BSE Inquiry Homepage (UK)
APHIS BSE Information
National Cattlemen's Beef
Association's (NCBA) BSE Information
European
Commission Food Safety
National Animal Health
Emergency Management System (NAHEMS)
British
Producer Supports Alternate BSE Theory