Foot and Mouth Disease: A Pictorial Review, UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Extension

Foot and Mouth Disease—A Pictorial Review

John H. Kirk, DVM, MPVM

Veterinary Medicine Extension
School of Veterinary Medicine
University of California, Davis
Tulare, CA

Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) is a rapid developing, very highly communicable disease that occur almost exclusively in cloven-footed animals such as cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. FMD is characterized by suddenly appearing vesicles or blisters on the mouth, nose, feet and teats. The blisters quickly rupture to leave erosions or ulcers. Animals with mouth ulcers back off of feed and have excessive salivation. Due to sore feet, animals prefer to lie down. Animals with teat lesions are hard to milk and prone to mastitis. While few animals die, most do loose weight and drop off markedly in milk production. There are seven recognized strains of FMD, and it occurs worldwide. Occasional outbreaks of FMD occur in Europe. Canada and the United States are free of FMD. A 1967 FMD outbreak in the UK resulted in over 400,000 pigs being destroyed. The last FMD outbreak in the UK was in 1981. The current outbreak in the UK has resulted in nearly 70,000 pigs, sheep and cattle being destroyed on at least 70 premises.

The purpose of this article is to show the lesions of FMD as they might occur in livestock so that you may recognize them quickly if an outbreak should occur. It should be kept in mind that the lesions of FMD in cattle can not be distinguished in the field from the lesions of Vesicular Stomatitis. Therefore it is essential that regulatory veterinary authorities be notified immediately to obtain a rapid diagnosis.

Figure 1. Cow with excessive salivation due to a vesicular disease such as FMD. The vesicles usually rupture quickly leaving erosions in the skin around the lips, gums and on the tongue and hard palate.

Drs. Callis JJ, Dardiri AH, Ferris, DH, G JG, Mason J, Wilder FW. Illustrated Manual for the Recognition and Diagnosis of Certain Animal Diseases. Mexico-United States Commission for the Prevention of Foot and Mouth Disease. 1982.

Figure 2. Intact and ruptured vesicles on the tongue of a cow.

Figure 3. A recently ruptured vesicle on the dental pad of a cow (left) and tongue of cow where the covering of the tongue has loosen and sloughed off (right).

Figure 4. Vesicles on the teats of a cow with vesicular disease like FMD.

Figure 5. Vesicles between the toes of a cow with a vesicular disease.

Figure 6. Large vesicle or blister on the tongue of a cow with FMD.

Figure 7. Sloughing of skin off the tongue due a vesicular disease.

Figure 8. Ruptured vesicle on the tongue of a cow with a vesicular disease.

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