Foot and Mouth Disease FAQ V1.3 This is very much a first stage. The FAQ is liable to change rapidly over the next few days. The latest version of this faq will be posted to this newsgroup until the current UK Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak is over. The frequency of posting will be reviewed from time to time. Compiled mainly from postings on the usenet group: uk.business.agriculture   What is Foot and Mouth Disease? Which Animals can catch Foot and Mouth Disease? * What about my Dog? * Or my Cat? Can Horses Catch Foot and Mouth Disease? Can people contract the disease? Can Animals be Vaccinated against Foot and Mouth Disease? * Will the Commission review its non-vaccination policy? Where can I find more information? Faq maintained by Denis: FAQ@withypool.net The FAQ may be seen at: http://www.farm-direct.co.uk/fmdfaq/index.html What is Foot and Mouth Disease? Foot and Mouth disease is a highly infectious viral disease of cloven hoofed animals including cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. Symptoms include: * Mouth blisters causing salivation and difficulty in eating. In some cases parts of the tongue or snout may be lost. * Blisters on the feet resulting in lameness and sometimes the loss of the horny parts of the hoof. Death is not usual in adult animals but they lose, or cease gaining weight. Milk production in dairy cattle falls. Affected animals are worthless at market. Foot and mouth disease has been likened to that of influenza in man. Not the mild dose of 'flu' that is an excuse for a couple of days in bed but something like the 1918 outbreak that killed over 20,000,000 people. The disease kills young animals of all susceptible species. In recent Mediterranean outbreaks, between 45% and 94% of lambs died. Which Animals can catch Foot and Mouth Disease? Cattle, sheep, pigs and goats are susceptible and some wild animal such as hedgehogs, coypu, rats, deer and zoo animals including elephants. What about my Dog? Any dogs in an area infected with foot and mouth disease must be kept under control by their owners. This means that they must either: * be kept in a kennel or enclosure from which they cannot escape or * be effectively secured to a fixed object by a collar and chain or * they must be accompanied by and under the effectual control of the owner or a responsible person authorised by the owner. If you are in an area declared to be infected with foot and mouth disease you must not let your dog run free; if you do, it may be seized by the local authority or the police and treated as a stray. In addition, an inspector may serve a notice on anyone in the infected area to keep a dog under specific controls. Dogs which are kept under proper control are not prevented from being moved. Certain sporting activities involving dogs are not allowed in areas infected with foot and mouth disease. If you feed your dog bones, please dispose of the bones carefully once your dog has finished with them so that wildlife cannot gain access to the bones. Can Horses Catch Foot and Mouth Disease? Though horses are not susceptible to infection by foot and mouth they may be involved in spreading infection. Material from an infected animal (dung, hair etc.) could be carried on hooves, bodies and tack of horses and by the rider. It could be carried from areas containing infected animals to previously "clean" areas. Can people contract the disease? Advice from the Department of Health is that it is very rare. There has only been one recorded case of FMD in a human being in Great Britain in 1966. The general effects of the disease in that case were similar to influenza with some blisters. It is a mild short lived, self-limiting disease. The Food Standards Agency has advised that the disease has no implications for the human food chain. There is however a human condition called Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, which is unrelated. It will not affect animals. If you are concerned you should contact your GP. Can Animals be Vaccinated against Foot and Mouth Disease? Vaccination was abandoned in 1991 because the EU had successfully eradicated FMD. This decision has saved over €1 billion and allowed EU producers to export to countries which only allow imports from FMD-free countries not following a vaccination policy. In the discussions on FMD to date, no Member State has signalled that it wishes to abandon the current policy. However, the Community does maintain a antigen bank with up to 30 million individual doses of vaccine. These are envisaged in a situation where there is an outbreak of epidemic proportions where the authorities must introduce "preventive vaccination", i.e. action to halt the spread of the disease pending the destruction of potentially contaminated animals. Will the Commission review its non-vaccination policy? All Member States agree that vaccination is not justified in the current circumstances where the outbreak is limited in scale and confined to one Member State. There are also very significant logistical and cost implications in vaccination, twice yearly, of a Community livestock population of over 300 million susceptible animals. Moreover, vaccination is only effective in relation to the strain of FMD concerned and offers no protection against other strains of the virus. Finally, the loss of the EU's non-vaccination status would involve substantial loss of trade to third countries which insist on imports from foot and mouth free countries. In summary, therefore, the costs of vaccination hugely outweigh the benefits. Nonetheless, this situation will be kept under review. Where can I find more information? * Interesting site and certainly something to point those wanting a quick look, or want to peek before learning how to use a Newsreader application: http://www.newsgate.co.uk/uk/uk.business.agriculture/index.html * The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food continually updates its website:- http://www.maff.gov.uk * http://www.hjones-sons.co.uk * http://www.farminghelp.org.uk * National Pig Association http://www.npa-uk.net/F&M.htm - updated several times a day * http://www.foot-and-mouth.org.uk * Precautions to be exercised by people working in the countryside http://www.maff.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/fmd/leaflets/factsht6.pdf * Photos of first reported case http://www.maff.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/fmd/no1.htm * For general advice and information CA http://www.countryside-alliance.org/fmd/ * NFU http://www.nfu.org.uk/ * National Pig Association: http://www.npa-uk.net * Farming Union of Wales: http://www.fuw.org.uk/ * Endangered Exmoor: http://www.exmoor.org.uk/news.htm * Equine World UK: have now included a special section for horses and their owners http://www.equine-world.co.uk/equestrian_news/footandmouth.htm   * You can try ringing your local MAFF Animal Health Divisional Office http://www.maff.gov.uk/aboutmaf/contacts/contac.htm#aho * Butchers' and Drovers Charitable Institution http://www.butchershall.com/charity/ For financial assistance to those connected with the processing, wholesale and retail meat trade. * The Churches Respond http://www.ruralnet.org.uk/~arc/net/footmo.html * up- to- date news of canal & towpath closures may be found at: http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk * A supplier of Foot and Mouth Barrier Matting: http://www.footandmouthprotectivematting.com/