foot-and-mouth disease

noun

: an acute contagious febrile disease especially of cloven-footed animals that is caused by serotypes of a picornavirus (species Foot-and-mouth disease virus of the genus Aphthovirus) and is marked by ulcerating vesicles in the mouth, about the hooves, and on the udder and teats

called also foot-and-mouth, hoof-and-mouth disease

compare hand, foot and mouth disease

Examples of foot-and-mouth disease in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In 2007, foot-and-mouth disease, which spreads rapidly through livestock populations and can easily cause billions of dollars of economic damage, leaked not once but twice from the same British laboratory within weeks, even after government intervention. William MacAskill, Foreign Affairs, 11 Aug. 2022 Animals with foot-and-mouth disease typically exhibit symptoms such as fever and blisters, or sores in the mouth, teats and between the hooves. Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 28 July 2022 The organization’s projects, which were built with the intention of detecting the earliest cases of animal-only and animal-to-human diseases—think foot-and-mouth disease among cattle or H5N1 avian flu— got repurposed during the past year as reporting and information-seeking channels for Covid. Maryn McKenna, Wired, 5 May 2021 The only truly accurate measures of herd immunity are done in actual herds and come from studying animal viruses like rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease, said Dr. David M. Morens, Dr. Fauci’s senior adviser on epidemiology at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. New York Times, 24 Dec. 2020 Fifteen years ago, rural Britain was still struggling after being decimated four years earlier by the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, a highly infectious disease which affects cows and other cloven-footed animals, and generally requires widespread culling of livestock. Olivia Potts, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020 In more recent times, efforts to build a road link have foundered because of fears that foot-and-mouth disease could spread and devastate the U.S. beef industry, and because of resistance from the Kuna and Embera-Wounaan Indians who inhabit the rainforest. Jason Motlagh, Outside Online, 19 July 2016 According to Reuters, a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak could have an $80 billion AUD ($55 billion USD) economic impact. Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 28 July 2022 That dreadful record started with the U.K. foot-and-mouth disease epidemic in 2001, during which the Imperial College modelers persuaded the government to adopt a policy of mass animal slaughter. Steve H. Hanke, National Review, 30 Mar. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'foot-and-mouth disease.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of foot-and-mouth disease was in 1850

Dictionary Entries Near foot-and-mouth disease

footage

foot-and-mouth disease

footback

Cite this Entry

“Foot-and-mouth disease.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foot-and-mouth%20disease. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

foot-and-mouth disease

noun
: a virus disease especially of cattle that is marked by fever and by ulcers in the mouth, about the hooves, and on the udder

called also hoof-and-mouth disease

Medical Definition

foot-and-mouth disease

noun
: an acute contagious febrile disease especially of cloven-hoofed animals that is caused by any of seven serotypes of a picornavirus (species Foot-and-mouth disease virus of the genus Aphthovirus) and is marked by ulcerating vesicles in the mouth, about the hooves, and on the udder and teats

called also aftosa, aphthous fever, foot-and-mouth, hoof-and-mouth disease

compare hand, foot and mouth disease

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