foot-and-mouth disease

American  

[foot-n-mouth] / ˈfʊt nˈmaʊθ /

noun

Veterinary Pathology.

1. an acute, contagious, febrile disease of cattle, hogs, sheep, and other hoofed animals, caused by any of various rhinoviruses and characterized by vesicular eruptions in the mouth and about the hoofs, teats, and udder.

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foot-and-mouth disease British  

noun

1. Technical name: contagious stomatitis.  Also called: hoof-and-mouth disease.   aphtha.   aphthous fever.  an acute highly infectious viral disease of cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats, characterized by the formation of vesicular eruptions in the mouth and on the feet, esp around the hoofs

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foot-and-mouth disease Scientific  

1. A highly contagious disease of cattle and other hoofed animals caused by any of various viruses of the family Picornaviridae and the genus Aphthovirus , characterized by fever and the presence of blisters around the mouth and hooves.

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Etymology

Origin of foot-and-mouth disease

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

foot-and-mouth disease

But its endless expanses have been swept by panic since an outbreak of highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease, which was declared a national disaster in February.

From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026

But the 49-year-old has faced intense criticism from farmers over his failure to contain the foot-and-mouth disease, which has devastated South Africa's livestock industry.

From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026

Last year, a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak disrupted the ritual slaughter of animals to mark Eid al-Adha in Indonesia.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 28, 2023

Australia has introduced new biosecurity rules after an Indonesian foot-and-mouth disease outbreak spread to the tourist hub island of Bali.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 2, 2022

Among these are included pleuropneumonia, rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease, rabies, cowpox, and tuberculosis.

From Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by United States. Bureau of Animal Industry