Overview of Foot-and-Mouth Disease and Its Impact as a Re-emergent Viral Infection

Foot- and-mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in many countries of the world, but a number of countries have attained FMD-free status, which provides economic benefits from international trade in animals and animal products. In recent years there have been serious outbreaks of FMD in countries formerly free of the disease. This chapter summarizes the world situation and addresses the question of whether resurgences of FMD fall into a general pattern of emerging and re-emerging diseases consequent upon four interlinked domains of the determinants of the emergence of infection as defined by the 2003 Institute of Medicine Report on Microbial Threats to Health: genetic and biological factors; physical environmental factors; ecological factors; and social, economic and political factors.