National Milk Producers Federation

Fact Sheet

For more information on Foot and Mouth disease, read the dairy fact sheet put together by NMPF, the International Dairy Foods Associaton, Dairy Management Inc., and the U.S. Dairy Export Council.

Foot-and-Mouth Prevention Practices

This document is an excellent source of biosecurity information for the dairy industry.

International Travelers

In response to the increasing number of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks worldwide, travelers to the United States from infected regions need to take steps to help prevent the accidental introduction of the disease into this country.

FMD is not considered a human health risk but humans can carry the virus on their clothing, shoes, body (particularly the throat and nasal passages), and personal items. The disease is extremely contagious and spreads easily among cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and deer. Introduction of FMD into this country would be disastrous to the American livestock industry andwildlife community. For this reason all visits to farms or other livestock facilties in FMD infected areas and all food items and other materials of plant or animal origin in the traveler's possession must be reported on the U.S. Customs Declaration Form upon entering the country.

The following preventive measures should be taken by travelers to the United States from FMD infected countries:

1. Avoid farms, sale barns, stockyards, animal laboratories, packing houses, zoos, fairs or other animal facilities for 5 days prior to travel.
   
2. Before travel to the United States, launder or dry clean all clothing and outerwear. All dirt and soil should be removed from shoes by thorough cleaning prior to wiping with cloth dampened with a bleach solution. (5 tablespoons of household bleach in 1 gallon of water). Luggage and personal items (including watches, cameras, laptops, CD players and cell phones), if soiled, should be wiped with a cloth dampened with a bleach solution.
   
3. Avoid contact with livestock or wildlife for 5 days after arrival in the United States. Extra precautionary measures should be taken by people traveling from farms in infected locales to visit or work on farms in the United States. It is advisable that employers or sponsors provide arriving travelers with a clean set of clothing that can be worn after the visitor showers and shampoos thoroughly. Visitor's traveling clothes should be laundered or dry cleaned immediately. Off-farm activities should be scheduled for the visitor's first 5 days in-country and contact with livestock or wildlife should be strictly avoided.

Reminder to Livestock Owners

The U.S. Department of Agriculture encourages livestock owners and private veterinary practitioners to report any unusual animal health symptoms to their local agricultural officials. USDA continues to safeguard American agriculture from foreign animal diseases like foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). As part of this effort, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has certified more than 450 foreign animal disease diagnosticians located throughout the United States to investigate every instance of potential foreign animal diseases.

FMD is a severe, highly communicable viral disease of cattle and swine. It also affects sheep, goats, deer, and other cloven-hoofed ruminants. Symptoms of FMD include blisters around the mouth or on the feet, reduced appetite, and lameness. FMD can be confused with several other, but less harmful diseases such as vesicular stomatitis or swine vesicular disease.

When an investigation is conducted, the location is placed under quarantine until laboratory tests confirm whether or not the condition is FMD. No such investigation has turned up FMD in the United States since 1929.