Clinical signs of Foot and Mouth Disease

How to detect signs of Foot and Mouth in cattle, sheep and pigs.

Signs of Foot and Mouth in Cattle

  • Slobbering and smacking lips.
  • Shivering
  • Tender and sore feet
  • Reduced milk yield
  • Sores and blisters on feet
  • Raised temperature
  • Pictures of infected cattle

Signs of Foot and Mouth in Sheep

  • Sudden, severe lameness
  • Lies down frequently and is very unwilling to rise
  • When made to rise stands in a half-crouching position, with hind legs brought well forward, reluctant to move
  • Blisters may be found on the hoof where the horn joins the skin which may extend all round the coronet and in the cleft of the foot. When they burst the horn is separated from the tissues underneath, and hair round the hoof may appear damp
  • the dental pad and sometimes the tongue
  • Pictures of infected sheep
  • More detailed information for sheep farmers

Signs of Foot and Mouth in Pigs

  • Sudden lameness
  • Prefers to lie down
  • When made to move squeals loudly and hobbles painfully
  • Blisters form on the upper edge of the hoof, where the skin and horn meet, and on the heels and in the cleft
  • May extend right round the top of the hoof with the result that the horn becomes separated
  • Blisters may develop on the snout or on the tongue

It is important to remember that Swine Vesicular Disease has identical symptoms to foot-and-mouth disease. Therefore anyone who sees blisters in pigs must report the sighting as suspected foot-and-mouth disease until laboratory tests prove otherwise.

 

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Page last modified: 1 November, 2008