Foot and Mouth Disease : Etiology, Epidemiology and Control Measures

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is highly infectious disease of cloven-hoofed animals, particularly cattle, sheep, pigs and goats. Also, it is the most important animal pathogen on the global scale because of the potential for rapid and extensive spread through susceptible animal populations. Outbreak can lead to formidable economic consequence for domestic livestock production and international trade. FMD is caused by FMD virus which is a small, non-enveloped, positive-sense RNA virus belonging to the genus Aphthovirus within the family Picornaviridae. There are seven immunologically distinct serotypes; O, A, C, SAT (Southern African Territories) 1, SAT 2, SAT 3 and Asia 1 and a diverse antigenic spectrum of virus strains within each serotype. Characteristic lesion of FMD is the formation of vesicles in the mucosal membranes of mouth, muzzle, foot, and teats. Nowadays, many developed countries have maintained FMD-free as a result of eradication efforts. However, outbreaks of FMD have occurred in several countries, even in Europe, and it is still endemic in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and South America. Last year, three outbreaks of FMD occurred in our country. Last outbreak reported in November, 2010 induced the enormous social and economical impacts. Culling of infected animals, movement control, and vaccination are the major control measures of FMD. To control the disease, each country has their own strategies based on the current situation of FMD in their country. Therefore, I would like to discuss the causative agent, epidemiological properties and control measures of FMD in this paper.