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Agents & Ammo in Depth
Foot and Mouth Disease Virus

Since the beginning of August, around 2,000 cows in the United Kingdom have died as a result of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Trade restrictions have caused significant losses to the British meat industry. The current outbreak is small in scale compared to an earlier outbreak in 2001, in which over six million animals died and which cost the country an estimated £4 billion (around $6.4 billion). In both instances, the animals did not die from infection, but were killed in order to prevent further spread of the disease. FMD is considered the most economically devastating livestock disease in the world, and the virus that causes it could potentially be used as a weapon of agroterrorism.

FMD has occurred in most countries at some time over the last century. According to the International Office of Epizootics (OIE), FMD is endemic, or constantly present, in most countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, and in parts of Asia and Europe. The United States has been free of FMD since 1929.