Foot and Mouth Disease and other Vesicular Diseases

Other names		Foot and Mouth Disease - FMD Swine Vesicular Disease - SVD Vesicular stomatitis-VS Vesicular Exanthema of Swine and San Miguel Sea Lion Viruses
Causal agent		Foot and Mouth Disease - Virus Picornovirus (Aphthovirus) Swine Vesicular Disease - Virus Picornovirus (Enterovirus) Vesicular stomatitis - Virus - Rhabdovirus (Vesiculovirus)
Age group	All ages of pigs can be affected
Clinical signs
Foot and Mouth is the definitive disease, the other diseases present with similar signs which may be confused with foot and mouth
		Incubation period 1 to 5 days but can be 21 days
		Fever to 40.5•C
		Skin around the snout, lips, tongue, inside the mouth, around the coronary band and the soft skin on the feet becomes whiter (blanched). Vesicles may develop on the sow's teats
		Vesicles (blisters) develop
		Vesicles rupture up to 24 hours after development and if no secondary infection occurs healing is rapid
		The animals are lame. Lesions in the mouth may not occur obviously in the pig
		With the feet, the hoof may become detached, revealing the painful raw tissues underneath. The hoof can re-grow, but is often deformed. This can take several weeks
		The disease affects nearly all susceptible animals, but few animals will die specifically with the disease
One day un-ruptured vesicle on the snout			Ruptured vesicle on the snout	Horn separation	Ruptured vesicles and some hoof separation
Blanched un-ruptured vesicle			Vesicles on feet		Pig lame with FMD

Infectivity of Foot and Mouth
	Affects all cloven-hoofed animals - pigs, cattle, sheep and goats. VS also affects horses
	Rapidly spread through the air, animal contact and vectors, such as clothing, utensils, vehicles
	Can be spread through meat and meat-by products, especially fast frozen feeds
	Spread through semen
	High humidity, cloud cover and moderate temperatures favour airborne spread (over 20 km)
	Pigs produce aerosols 3000 times more concentrated than cattle
	Carrier status occurs in cattle. FMDv can be excreted in the milk for up to 7 weeks
Post-mortem lesions
	Vesicles, generally ruptured, in the mouth, nose and on the feet
Treatment and control
Treatment	Notify your vet and government official if clinical signs are suspected
	None. In endemic areas a vaccine is used
Control	Strict regulation of importation of animals and animal products infected with vesicular diseases
	Euthanasia and disposal of animals- burial, composting, rendering or burning
Zoonotic implications
	Human infection does occur but is extremely rare, often without any clinical signs