Fact Check: Is Foot-and-Mouth Disease Not Dangerous at All?
Assessment: The disease, which exclusively affects cloven-hoofed animals, is a real threat to these animals. Contrary to the claim, it is not extinct. There are several recently documented cases from Europe. FMD is not transmissible to humans.
Verification: Foot-and-mouth disease occurs worldwide, with the exception of New Zealand. The last FMD case in Austria was documented in 1981. Most recently, Bulgaria in Europe battled the virus in 2011. Infected animals develop blisters on the mouth, hooves, and udder. Other symptoms can include fever and pain, and the animals' performance decreases. Through international supply chains and human travel, the FMD virus can spread across countries, even in areas where the disease was already considered "eradicated."
Consequences of FMD Spread
Austria responded to documented cases from eastern neighboring countries. A surveillance zone was defined where farms with cloven-hoofed animals are inspected and animals are randomly tested. Borders with Hungary and Slovakia are being monitored. From affected countries, there is an import ban on items such as fresh meat, plant-based feed, or manure. On the other hand, five countries, including the USA and Japan, have already stopped importing Austrian beef and pork as well as raw milk to prevent a possible introduction of FMD.
The Facebook post falsely claims that no animal has ever died from FMD. While the mortality rate is low at five percent for adult animals, infected cloven-hoofed animals can still die from it. Young animals are particularly at risk, with a mortality rate of 20 percent or more. In the current FMD outbreak in Europe, for example, at the beginning of the year, three animals from a water buffalo herd in Brandenburg, Germany, died before the virus could be detected in them.
"Culling" vs. Emergency Slaughter
Since there are no treatment options for the disease and the virus spreads quickly, for example via objects, humans as carriers, groundwater, or air (up to 60 kilometers over land), according to the EU directive and thus by national law, all cloven-hoofed animals on a farm that are "possibly contaminated or contribute to the spread of the listed disease" must be killed. The veterinary term for this is "culling" - the targeted killing of livestock to combat diseases.
An emergency slaughter is referred to when injured animals must be killed as quickly as possible so that the meat can still be processed. The consumption of products, such as meat, gelatin, or milk, from FMD-infected animals is indeed harmless to human health, since the pathogen can also spread through the products, they must not be processed and distributed.
Cloven-hoofed animals affected by foot-and-mouth disease
In general, infectious diseases can be clinically recognized by symptoms such as fever. However, laboratory tests of blood or tissue samples are needed to accurately identify the causative bacteria and viruses. Even with foot-and-mouth disease, a clinical diagnosis is not clear, as the symptoms do not clearly differ from other "blister diseases" in animals. For a reliable determination of the disease, a PCR or antigen test is required.
The Facebook user points out in his false report that only useful and harmless animals are affected by the disease and not the "nation's favorites" like wolves and bears. In fact, foot-and-mouth disease only affects cloven-hoofed animals, which include livestock such as cows, goats, and sheep, as well as wild animals like deer and wild boars. Horses and donkeys, as "odd-toed ungulates," are not affected by foot-and-mouth disease. Other wild animals residing in Austria, such as wolves and bears, are also not cloven-hoofed animals.
Transmission of the FMD virus to humans through the consumption of contaminated food and human-to-human transmission is not known. Only with very intensive contact with affected animals and contaminated objects and products can an infection occur. However, this usually does not lead to illness and therefore no symptoms in affected individuals.
(APA/Red.)
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