Foot and Mouth Disease

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease of all cloven-footed animals, primarily cattle, buffaloes, goats, sheep, deer and pigs. This is also called Khurarog, Khurachol and Batna in Bangladesh. The leading cause of FMD is an RNA virus called Apthovirus under Picornaviridae family. There are seven distinct serotypes (A, O, C, Asia-1, SAT-1, SAT-2, SAT-3) and 62 sub-types of the virus. The reported serotypes in Bangladesh are A, O, C, Asia-1. Respiratory tract is the natural route of FMD virus infection. The virus is excreted through saliva, urine, dung, milk, skin, fluid of blisters. The virus can spread from sick to healthy animals through food, inhalation and contact. The incubation period of this FMD virus is 2-7 days. At first, there is an onset of fever (104°F-106°F) along with depression and anorexia. There is gradual development of an acute painful stomatitis. The characteristic blisters or vesicles appear in the tongue, lips, dental pad, gums, pharynx, muzzle, palate, teats and on feet. Salivation is increased, wound is developed in mouth and feet, body weight is reduced, milk production is decreased and sometimes secondary bacterial infection may complicate the disease. The disease is more severe in calves that may die even before showing any symptoms. FMD can be primarily diagnosed on the basis of history, clinical signs and symptoms. There is no specific treatment for FMD, however, if some symptomatic treatment with good care is given, good results can be obtained. Infected animals should be kept in a clean and dry place separately. Paracetamol or Tolphaminic acid group drugs can be used to reduce fever and pain. Wounds on the tongue and foot may be washed with 2% alum or 0.01% potassium permanganate. In addition, for FMD cure, broad-spectrum antibiotics (sulfadimidine, strepto-penicillin) and 1% ivermectin can be applied to prevent secondary infection. The disease can be controlled by vaccinating the animals, specifically twice a year, with inactivated vaccine that is polyvalent and prepared against the dominant FMD virus serotypes. Other effective measures to control FMD are ring vaccination administering monovalent vaccine in an outbreak area and border vaccination. Strict quarantine measures should be followed for any imported or newly purchased animal. [Md. Anwar Hossain]