Foot and mouth disease virulence

Foot-and-mouth is endemic in parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America.

It was thought to have been eradicated in Europe.

Epidemics, while rarely fatal to animals, have serious economic implications.

The disease causes weight loss among infected animals and a loss of milk yield among dairy cattle.

They also suffer from fevers, develop blisters and become lame; however, they usually recover within three weeks.

It can be easily spread, infecting a range of farm animals -- pigs, cattle, sheep and goats -- as well as certain wild animals.

The virus responsible for the present outbreak in Britain has been identified as the highly virulent pan-Asiatic O type.

Outbreaks can be spread by both live animals and infected meat.

The virus can be killed off by heat, low humidity, and disinfectants. The last major outbreak of the disease in an EU country was in Greece last year.

In the last major outbreak in Britain in 1967, more than four-hundred-thousand animals had to be slaughtered.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service