Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)

19.03.2024

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)

Why in the news?          

According to recent reports, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has affected about 60% of milch cattle in Pilibhit district.

Important points:

• To control this disease, the Animal Husbandry Department has arranged for more than 3 lakh vaccines.
• According to official data, dairy owners and agricultural farmers own more than 3.5 lakh cows and buffaloes in Pilibhit district.
• According to veterinary scientists, the infection can spread to humans by consuming raw or pasteurized milk from infected cattle.
• Raw or pasteurized milk from infected cattle can also be a possible way of spreading the infection to humans, although it is not fatal.

About Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD):

• It is a highly contagious viral disease of livestock that has a significant economic impact.
• The disease affects cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and other two-hoofed ruminants.
• Intensively farmed animals are more susceptible to the disease than traditional breeds.
• It does not affect horses, dogs or cats.
• It is a transboundary animal disease (TAD), which profoundly affects livestock production.
• It also has nothing to do with hand, foot and mouth disease.
• It is a common childhood disease caused by a different virus.
• FMD causes fever and blister-like sores on the tongue and lips, in the mouth, on the udders and between the hooves.
• The disease is rarely fatal in adult animals, but mortality is often high in young animals.
• The disease causes severe production losses, and while most affected animals recover, the disease often leaves them weak and debilitated.
• It was the first disease for which the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE) established official status recognition.

                                                           Source: Times of India