Prevention and Control of Foot and Mouth Disease
By Suzanne Morris and Cary Labrenz, Texas A&M University

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a viral disease that affects all cloven-footed animals. It has been recognized around the world for many years, and while it does not cause great mortality, the morbidity is extremely high. Recent outbreaks around the world, most notably in England, have brought the disease into the public’s awareness. FMD causes a decrease in production in affected herds and can have devastating effects on the affected country’s cattle and other animal production industries.

While the United States has been free of FMD since 1929, the risk of its renewed entry into the country is high due to the mobile modern lifestyle and the highly contagious nature of the disease. The United States can learn from countries such as Argentina, which was able to rid its country of the disease for 2 years, only to see its reemergence due to illegal importation of infected cattle from neighboring countries.