Foot and Mouth Disease

What is foot-and-mouth disease?

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a severe, highly contagious viral disease of cattle, sheep and swine.

FMD also affects goats, deer, bison and other cloven-hoofed domestic and wild ruminants.

Is FMD a risk to human health?

Human cases are extremely rare, generally mild and most often associated with consuming infected milk or having direct contact with FMD blisters.

FMD is an animal disease and not related to the virus (Coxsackie virus) that causes a human condition, called hand, foot and mouth disease.

What are the clinical signs of FMD?

FMD is characterized by:

• depression;
• fever;
• blister-like sores on the tongue and lips, in the mouth, on the teats and between the hooves;
• foot lesions, accompanied by acute lameness and reluctance to move; and
• loss of appetite or milk production.

Many affected animals recover, but the disease leaves them weakened and debilitated.

FMD can be confused with several other animal illnesses. These include:

• exotic vesicular stomatitis and swine vesicular disease; or
• endemic diseases, such as bovine viral diarrhea (mucosal disease) and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis.

It can also be mistaken for contact dermatitis due to trauma or chemical contamination (toxic plants).

Where is FMD found?

The disease is currently present in many areas of the world. Canada, the U.S., North and Central America, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and several other countries are considered free of FMD.

In North America, FMD was last reported in 1929 in the U.S., 1952 in Canada and 1954 in Mexico.

How is FMD transmitted and spread?

FMD is one of the most contagious animal diseases. An outbreak can spread by direct, indirect and airborne transmission.

Direct transmission occurs when animals infected with the virus are introduced into susceptible herds and contact other animals directly.

Indirect transmission occurs under the following four conditions:

• people wearing contaminated clothes or footwear, or using contaminated equipment expose susceptible animals to the virus;
• contaminated facilities and vehicles are used to hold and move susceptible animals;
• susceptible animals are fed contaminated feed or water; or
• susceptible animals are exposed to contaminated materials such as hay, semen or biologics.

Airborne transmission allows for the disease to spread over long distances and occurs when the air is contaminated with the respiration of infected animals. Swine contribute more to this mode of transmission because they excrete vast quantities of airborne virus in comparison to other species.

If an outbreak of FMD occurred, the virus could spread rapidly to all parts of Canada through routine livestock movements. Unless detected early and eradicated immediately, economic losses could be extensive. The potential role that wildlife such as deer, elk and bison, could play as a reservoir for the virus is unknown.

In order to prevent the spread of this (and any other) disease, all farm visitors should follow sound biosecurity measures, such as washing and disinfecting all personal effects and equipment from any other farms. It is particularly important to ensure that anyone having contact with animals wears cleaned and disinfected footwear.

How is FMD diagnosed?

The disease diagnosis is confirmed by laboratory testing. In Canada, this would be done at the National Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases in Winnipeg.

How is FMD treated?

There is no treatment for this disease. Emergency vaccination is discussed in length in the FMD Hazard Specific Plan.

What is done to protect Canadian livestock from FMD?

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) imposes strict regulations on the import of animals and animal products from countries where FMD is known to occur. These regulations are enforced through port-of-entry inspections done either by the Canada Border Services Agency or the CFIA.

FMD is a "reportable disease" under the Health of Animals Act. This means that all suspected cases must be reported to the CFIA for immediate investigation by inspectors.

How would the CFIA respond to an outbreak of FMD in Canada?

Canada’s emergency response strategy to an outbreak of FMD would be to:

• eradicate the disease; and
• re-establish Canada’s disease-free status as quickly as possible.

In an effort to eradicate FMD, the CFIA would use its "stamping out" policy, which includes:

• humane destruction of all infected and exposed animals;
• surveillance and tracing of potentially infected or exposed animals;
• quarantine and animal movement controls to prevent spread;
• decontamination of infected premises; and
• zoning to define infected and disease-free areas.

Owners whose animals are ordered destroyed may be eligible for compensation.

For more information

Contact your CFIA Area office:

Atlantic Area: 506-851-7651

Quebec Area: 514-283-8888

Ontario Area: 519-837-9400

Western Area: 403-292-4301

You can find your local CFIA District office on the CFIA Web site or by consulting the blue pages of your local phone directory.