The foot-and-mouth disease is a Viral disease generally not mortal, even benign, but very contagious which touches the Bovin S and the Porc S. It can also infect the stag S, the Chèvre S, the Mouton S and other animals with the split shoe S, as well as the elephant S, the Rat S and the Hérisson S.

The horses are not sensitive there and the Homme S very seldom.

Origin, countries concerned currently

It is Friedrich Loeffler which showed the viral origin of it in 1897. After having passed the Sang of an animal infected through a filter of porcelain glass it noted that the Liquide obtained could still cause the disease in healthy animals.

The foot-and-mouth disease prevails in many countries, and partially infects the Europe, the Africa, the Asia and the South America. To now (July 2001) however some countries, whose Australia, Canada and the United States (where since 1929 it could be removed) are exempted. As it can strike many hosts, its diffusion is fast and represents for the whole world a great concern. In Great Britain the epidemic of 2001 has constrained to cut down many animals and to cancel many sports events and leisures like the weekend of Ten Tors.

After the Second world war the foot-and-mouth disease was largely spread in the whole world. In 1996, it was endemic in Asia, Africa and locally in South America, where however the Chile, the Uruguay and the Argentine did not know an epidemic since April 1994. The majority of the European countries were recognized like not being touched, so that those which belong to the European Union ceased the Vaccination. The North America, the Central America, the Australia, the New Zealand, the Japan and the British Isles did not know it during several of years.

In the years 1960 and 1970, the French veterinary surgeons looked after this disease in a current way, and of the disease prevention campaigns were realized. A treatment existed, but it is removed today by technocratic decision.

The virus

The foot-and-mouth disease is caused by dénominés FMDV (of English, F oot-and- m outh D isease v irus ), virus of the aphthovirus kind of the family of the Picornaviridés. The members of this family are not wrapped icosaèdraux viruses small size (25-30 Nm), which contain ARN with simple bit (ribonucleic acid, material viral genetics) of positive polarity (directly coding). When a virus of this kind comes into contact with a host cell, it sticks to a receiver and starts reploiement cellular membrane. Once the virus is inside the host cell, its coat proteinic dissolves. The viral ARN of positive polarity released is then initially translated into poly-protein by ribosomes associated with the endoplasmic reticulum. Once the proteins necessary to its multiplication synthesized begins the replication of the viral genome with a ARN viral polymerase ARN dependant, a bit of ARN of negative polarity complementary to the ARN (+) is synthesized which will be used in its turn as matrix for the synthesis of the ARN (+) viral which represents the viral genome. The components of the coat proteinic, synthesized in great quantity, join it to assemble new viruses there. After this assembly, the host cell bursts and the new viruses are released.

There has seven Sérotype S different from the foot-and-mouth disease - O, is, C, SAT-1, SAT-2, SAT-3 and Asia-1. These sérotypes is presented differently according to the areas, the sérotype O being most common.

Recent cases of foot-and-mouth disease

the United Kingdom, 2001

It is very probable that the epidemic in Northern Europe in 2001, successor in title of the damage for 13 billion euros, is related to a cloud of dust coming from sub-Saharan Africa (at the time of Aïd-el-Kabir, Moslem religious holiday involving a very important movement of sheep). This cloud would be related to the Climate warming.

Contrary to the generally allowed assumption: fatty water (waste of kitchen) of an Asian restaurant data, without observance of the European regulations, with a breeding of pig which would have then contaminated all United Kingdom and most of Europe (what seems improbable, since the duration of incubation is 6 days, whereas the epidemic was extremely fast).

the United Kingdom, 2007

to see detailed article: Foot-and-mouth disease of August 2007 in England

Symptoms and modes of contamination

At Bovine S, foot-and-mouth disease expresses by high temperature which quickly drops after two or three days, of the Aphte S inside the mouth which cause an excessive production of Salive streaked or foamy with hypersialorrhée, and of the Cloque S on the feet which can open and make limp. Adult animals can lose weight and not to go back some during several months; the Testicule S of the male S mature can inflate while in the cows, the production of milk can lower in an important way. Though the majority of the animals cure finally foot-and-mouth disease, the disease can cause the Myocardite (ignition of the muscle of the heart) and death, particularly in new-born animals. Some infected animals remain asymptomatic, i.e. they do not undergo or do not express the signs of the disease; but they are vectors of the foot-and-mouth disease and can transmit it to others.

In the foot-and-mouth disease the infection tends to occur on the spot, i.e. the virus contaminates the likely animals by the direct contact with infected animals or contaminated stalls or of the vehicles used to transport the cattle. The virus clothing and the skin of the people in contact with the animals can also lodge, like the farmers, the noncurrent water and the food remains which were not cooked as well as the food supplements containing of the infected livestock products. The cows can also contract the foot-and-mouth disease by receiving the Sperme infected bulls. The control measures include/understand the Forty, the destruction of the animals reached and prohibitions of Exportation for the livestock meat and the other products towards countries not touched by the disease.

The man very seldom touched

The human beings can contract the disease by contact with infected animals, but the fact is extremely rare. In fact that the virus causes it is sensitive to the gastric Acide, it cannot thus contaminate the man by the infected meat consumption. With the the United Kingdom, the last human case confirmed date of 1967 and some others only was recorded in the countries of continental Europe, Africa and South America. The foot-and-mouth disease appears at the human ones by Malaise S, Fièvre, Vomissement S, ulcerative Lésion S reds of fabrics of the mouth (of the spots of erosion showing a surface of damaged skin) and sometimes of the lesions vésiculaires of the skin in the form of small blisters. (we can conclude that the man does not have any risk to be touched, most of the time we confused the foot-and-mouth disease with another human fever, there is thus no risk with the man.)

A greater threat for the agricultural economics

Owing to the fact that the foot-and-mouth disease infects the man only seldom, but diffuses itself quickly among the animals, it constitutes a threat much larger for the agricultural economy than for the human Santé. In the whole world the stockbreeders can lose billion dollars per annum at the time of an epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease, with the loss of a great number of animals and a production decrease for milk and the meat.

Vaccination

One of the difficulties to vaccinate against the foot-and-mouth disease resides in the enormous variation between Sérotype S and even inside same a sérotype. There does not exist any protection crossed between sérotypes (what wants to say that a vaccine for a sérotype will not protect from any the others) and, moreover, in a sérotype given two stocks can have sequences of Nucléotide S which to differ from 30%. That means that the vaccines against the foot-and-mouth disease must be narrowly specific to the implied stock. Vaccination provides only a provisional Immunité which lasts of a few months to a few years. Currently, the GOOSE (international Office of epizooties) recognizes that in their relationship to the disease the countries are in three different situations: or the foot-and-mouth disease is present with or without vaccination, or it is absent thanks to vaccination or it is absent without one needing vaccination. In fact the countries of the third group have the most facilities to export on the markets; it is the case of developed countries of which Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

In the first times much of the first vaccines used dead samples of virus of the foot-and-mouth disease to inoculate animals. However, these first vaccines caused sometimes real eruptions. In the years 1970, the researchers discovered that one could manufacture a vaccine by employing only one simple key Protéine of the virus. It was a question of manufacturing sufficient quantities of this protein in order to employ it in vaccination. June 18th 1981, the US government announced the creation of a specific vaccine against the foot-and-mouth disease, the first of the world to being built Génétique lies. More than two decades later, the foot-and-mouth disease always exists.

The North-American Bank of Vaccines against the foot-and-mouth disease is lodged by the Laboratory of Diagnosis of the Animal Diseases Foreign (FADDL) concerning Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the Center of the animal Diseases of Plum Island. The Center is located at 1,5 miles of the coast of Long Island, (State of New York), it is the only place with the the United States where the Scientifique S can undertake searchs and work for diagnosis on exotic animal diseases strongly contagious like the foot-and-mouth disease.

Similar symptoms, another virus

There exists another viral disease with similar symptoms, generally mentioned as the syndrome hand-foot-stops more frequent at the human ones, particularly in the young children; this disease is caused by a virus different from the family of the Picornaviridé S, it acts of a Entérovirus called Coxsackie A.

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