Texas Officials Urge Awareness of Global Foot-and-Mouth Disease Threat

The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) reminds animal producers, marketers, and veterinarians that maintaining a foot-and-mouth disease-free United States requires constant awareness and vigilance. Anyone involved with livestock needs to recognize the general signs of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and how to report suspicious symptoms. Foot-and-mouth disease is not contagious to people, but
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) reminds animal producers, marketers, and veterinarians that maintaining a foot-and-mouth disease-free United States requires constant awareness and vigilance.

Anyone involved with livestock needs to recognize the general signs of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and how to report suspicious symptoms. Foot-and-mouth disease is not contagious to people, but the viral disease that affects cattle, hogs, and other cloven-hoofed animals is characterized by the presence of vesicles (blisters) in the mouth, or on the muzzle, teats, and feet. The FMD virus can accidently be carried on people’s clothing, footwear and vehicles from one farm location to another.

“In today’s world where people travel and trade so much internationally, we need to remember that the introduction of FMD to (American) livestock is an ongoing threat," said Dee Ellis, DVM, Texas’ state veterinarian. "Producers should always be aware of who’s coming in contact with their livestock and where those people may have been previously.” The introduction of FMD would create severe economic and trade implications for Texas producers, added Ellis.

The TAHC and the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have created state and national response plans for dealing with high consequence animal diseases such as FMD if introduced. The TAHC and USDA routinely partner with other federal agencies as well, to help prevent the intentional or accidental introduction of foreign animal diseases or foreign pests into the United States. The TAHC works closely with the various Texas livestock industries also, to maintain viable contingency plans in case FMD was introduced into the state

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
303 votes · 303 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!