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Foot and mouth disease is a kind of highly contagious disease which will be clinically very evident. This FMD disease can sometimes become a fatal viral infection for many of the cloven hoofed animals such as water buffalo, cattle, sheep, goat and pigs. There are also cases in which the hedgehogs will also be infected due to this virus. The pathogenic agent which is responsible for the spread of this virus is called as FMD virus. There is also another name for this virus and is called as picornavirus. There are many instances in which this FMD virus has caused great losses to meat industry. Nowadays there are vaccines which are being developed to stop the outbreak of this disease. This is a RNA virus with seven serotypes. Out of the seven serotypes the O type is more prominent. The serotype typically shows a regional behavior.
Spread of virus
Foot and Mouth Disease Cow
There are many ways in which this virus gets spread and cause transfer of infection. The most common method of acquiring this infection is through direct contact with animals which are infected with this virus. The virus will also be spread if there is contact which is established between infected utensils, feed of infected animals. This virus will also get spread through people who are infected with this virus but develop no symptoms and the moment it gets spread to other people they start to develop symptoms. It is also proved that the infection gets transferred through food, clothes, milk, meat, vehicle and many other common day items.
Symptoms
Some of the common symptoms that are caused due to this virus include fever, fodder refusal and there will also be a typical saliva flow. There will also be ulcers in the mouth region. For pigs there will be bubbles occurring at the claws with the evident paralysis attack. The human beings are very rare to get infected by this virus and they show good resistance to this virus type. There are no specific medications that are available to treat this virus attack. The development of the vaccine has reduced the number of cases of foot and mouth disease in the recent years.
Animal farmers should incorporate special procedures to decrease the occurrence of this viral disease. The farmland should be equipped with special disinfection facilities. There should also be caution to prevent visitors from entering into the farmland who will be acting as a vector for this disease.
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