Foot and mouth disease - causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment

Foot and mouth disease - An acute infectious disease of viral etiology, characterized by vesicular-erosive lesions of coating tissue (mainly the mucous membranes of the mouth and extremities skin) accompanied by intoxication syndrome. Infection FMD comes from livestock and wild animals mainly by contact, but it is possible and food path. The clinical picture consists of acute conjunctivitis, common canker sores, obscheinfektsionnyh symptoms and lesions of the skin around the mouth, on the wings of the nose, in the interdigital spaces.

  • Characteristics of the pathogen
  • Symptoms of FMD
  • Diagnosis of FMD
  • Treatment of foot and mouth disease
  • Prevention of FMD
  • Foot and mouth disease - treatment

  • Foot and mouth disease


    headache, aching limbs, lower back. By the end of the first day of the disease usually notice a burning sensation in the mouth, hypersalivation. There may be a urethral mucosa damage, which manifests itself in the form of sharply painful urination.

    Survey reveals patients with conjunctival irritation and giperemirovannost, increase and morbidity of regional lymph nodes, oral mucosa expressed swelling, hyperemic, with small, filled with clear or unclear content, bubbles (aphthae). Aphthae predominantly located at the edges and at the tip of tongue edema. A day later the bubbles burst, leaving behind the erosion, which may coalesce, forming a vast eroded areas (currently such a prevalence of erosive process is rare enough).

    When large-scale defeat of the oral mucosa have difficulty in speech, swallowing, hypersalivation progresses (until the expiry of a stream of saliva). Patients usually swollen lips, they observed crust, erosion may occur on the skin around the mouth, nose, wings, conjunctiva. It is also sometimes marked skin lesions in the folds between the fingers, around the nails. In some cases, skin manifestations (eg, hands) are not accompanied by lesions of the oral cavity.

    Foot and mouth disease in children more severe, often marked abdominal symptoms (abdominal pain, dyspepsia, diarrhea). Erosion epiteliziruyutsya after 4-5 days, the fever subsides. Full recovery occurs in 10-15 days, but with significant lesions, concomitant erosion of the skin and the mucous membrane is sometimes delayed for a month or more. In some cases, there are re-formation of vesicles.

    Foot and mouth disease is complicated by the rarely occurring complications are mainly related to secondary infection. This may be pneumonia, myocarditis, suppurative skin and mucous diseases, sepsis, etc.

    scraping with erosions, saliva, feces, but in clinical practice the mass virological diagnostic methods are not used because of the complexity. Serological diagnosis of FMD by means RNGA and HCR in paired sera (fence material with an interval of 7 days). Sometimes produce bioassays in guinea pigs (animals paw pads rubbing discharge patient AFL).

    UV and laser irradiation). Symptomatic drugs (analgesics, antipyretics, cardiovascular and desensitizing agents) administered if indicated. If you want to produce a detoxification activities. In order to be appointed by fortifying vitamins and adaptogens.

    The prognosis of foot and mouth disease is generally favorable in most cases the disease ends in recovery, without leaving pathological consequences. Serious prognosis is difficult flowing foot and mouth disease in young children, in some cases ending in death.

    Prevention of FMD



    The basis of prevention of veterinary control of the health of farm animals, timely routine vaccination (made with inactivated FMD vaccines), quarantine measures for sick animals. In addition, it made hygienic monitoring of health status and working conditions of agricultural workers of the enterprises.

    Individual prevention is personal hygiene measures when working with livestock, animal feed, prevention of skin injury. Among other things, you need to eat dairy and meat products, which have the necessary processing, in particular, precautions are important in the implementation of infant feeding. Immunization of people is not carried out.