AN URGENT NEED FOR COLLABORATION

Foot-and mouth-disease (FMD) is a highly contagious disease of all cloven-hooved animals. It is caused by a highly contagious, positive strand RNA virus of the Picornaviridae. The disease in cattle is characterised by a high morbidity (a large proportion of a herd will show symptoms including vesicles and erosions in the mucosa of the mouth and skin of the interdigital spaces and coronary bands) and generally a low mortality (only a small percentage of infected animals will be severely affected and die).

Clinical signs

FMD in cattle is characterised by the development of lesions in the mouth and on the feet. However, the earliest clinical signs are those of a nonspecific infectious illness and include fever, dullness, inappetence, a fall in milk yield and the cessation of rumination. Because the disease is usually rapid in onset and development, these signs are superseded within a few hours by signs more obviously referable to the development of lesions. These include lameness, a disinclination to stand, lagging behind the herd/flock, salivation and other signs of discomfort in