Foot and mouth disease - Causes, symptoms and treatment. MF.

Foot and mouth disease( Aphtae epizoolicae) - acute, zooanatraponous virus infection, with fecal-oral transmission mechanism, is characterized by aphthous lesions of the oral mucosa and skin lesions of the hands that occur against the background of a febrile-intoxication syndrome.

Foot and mouth disease is known to man for more than 400 years and for the first time its causative agent was discovered in 1897 by Lefler and Frotem. The cloven-hoofed animals showed abundant salivation, aphthous changes in the oral cavity, damage to the hairless areas of the scalp, udder, as well as damage to the myocardium and skeletal muscles. Over time, similar symptoms began to notice in people who had contact with infected animals.

FMD pathogen

The causative agent is an RNA-containing virus belonging to the Picornavirus family( Picornaviridae: pico-small, rna-RNA), the genus Aftvirus( Aphtovirus).The foot-and-mouth disease virus is referred to highly resistant groups, as it is not affected by drying or disinfectants. On mountain pastures there is a year, in sewage, on clothing and wool cover, and in sausages - 3 months, indoors - 2 months, in fresh milk at 4 ° C - 15 days, in frozen condition - for years, without lossvirulence. Virus inactivation occurs only when heated and 1-2% with hot Na and K solutions for 30 minutes, 2% formalin solution kills the pathogen within 10 minutes, and 4% peroxide solution is also harmful. The action of the UFI is also disastrous.

Due to its high contagiousness and stability, the virus does not lose its relevance to this day. Foot and mouth disease is registered in many countries of the world and according to the latest data( 2003), annually around 70 countries of the world become ill in this disease. Before 1989, periodic outbreaks of the disease were recorded in Russia. In modern conditions, with sufficient preventive equipment, people with foot and mouth disease almost do not get sick, but cattle breeding causes big economic damage. In a few hours from one sick animal can get infected hundreds. Sick animals are subject to destruction.

Symptoms of foot and mouth disease in animals

Causes of infection with foot and mouth disease

Source and reservoir - cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, very rarely - dogs, cats, horses, poultry - infection occurs in close contact with sick animals and contaminated environment( tplace with high contamination of the virus).A secondary role in the distribution is given to rodents, flies and mites. The mechanism of infection is fecal-oral( through food), contact and contact-household, ie either by direct contact with the nails of sick animals, or by contact with contaminated objects. For animals, the aerogenic path( air-drop) is also relevant. Predisposing factors are microtrauma on the skin.

Symptoms of foot and mouth disease

The incubation period is 2-12 days, but on average 3-8 days. This period is considered from the moment of penetration of the pathogen into the body and before the onset of symptoms. The gateway of infection is the mucous membrane or microtraumas of the skin - the pathogen penetrates through them and part of the pathogen remains there, and the part spreads throughout the body through the blood. As soon as the number of microbes reaches a certain concentration( including the gateway of infection), a period of clinical manifestations arises.

Period of clinical manifestations - the onset of the disease is acute, without previous signs. The beginning of foot and mouth disease with a feverish intoxication syndrome: chills, myalgia, a gradual rise in temperature during 2 days with a maximum at the end of the second day - 38-40 ° C and this temperature keeps for a week. Against the backdrop of a febrile-intoxication syndrome, the symptoms of skin manifestations gradually increase and the place of occurrence of these changes depends on the primary contact area, ie it can be beaten either by hand when caring for a sick animal or oral cavity with the use of infected products).

Symptoms of foot and mouth disease on the hands of

In the oral cavity these changes are characterized by symptoms of stomatitis, burning in the mouth, reddening of the mucous membrane of the lips / gums / larynx / cheeks / tongue with further edema. Also in parallel, rhinitis, conjunctivitis, urethritis may occur.

Afts in the foot and mouth disease in tongue and hands

As the organism spreads, the pathogen continues to be fixed on epithelial cells, secondary inflammatory changes appear on the skin of the hands( especially in the perihotic region and interdigital folds), after 1-2 days, specific inflammatory changes appear on the place where there was edema and hyperemia -aphthae appear.

Afts are superficial ulcers that are painful when exposed to any surface, which makes chewing and swallowing very difficult, and hypersalivation( increased salivation) is also a concomitant feature. Localization of aft - along the edge of the tongue, on the gums, on the palate and on the teeth. The magnitude of these ulcers can be from grain to pea.

Almost simultaneously, with an interval of 1-2 days, similar formations appear on the inflammatory areas of the skin( near-nasal and interdigital areas).After 2-3 days from the moment of appearance, aphthae are opened, forming erosions or sores, speech and swallowing become even more difficult, lips and tongue are covered with plaque and crusts. Perhaps podsypanie, i.e. the formation of new aphthae, which makes the disease protracted and prone to chronic course, as often a secondary bacterial infection is attached to these ulcers.

Diagnosis of foot and mouth disease

• According to clinical and epidemiological data;
• Conducting a biological test on guinea pigs;
• Serological methods using RSK( binding binding reaction) - for the quantification of complement-binding antibodies and antigen, in other words for the identification of antigens. RTGA( inhibition of hemagglutination inhibition) - determine the growth of antibody titer.

Treatment of foot and mouth disease

• Etiotropic treatment is aimed at the use of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs( isoprinosine, arbidol), as well as immunomodulators and immunostimulants in the form of viferon, interferon and cycloferon. Symptomatic and pathogenetic treatment is also used in accordance with prevailing symptoms.

Complications of foot and mouth disease

The prognosis for treatment is favorable and as such there are no specific complications, but in children secondary aphthae can be localized in the gastrointestinal tract and cause symptoms of gastroenteritis. Secondary bacterial complications are often recorded at the site of cutaneous aphthae.

Prevention of foot and mouth disease

• Vaccination of animals with an attenuated strain of the pathogen, obtained through repeated passage and elimination of pathogenicity.
• Disinfection;
• Compliance with the rules of sanitary and hygienic rules when caring for sick animals.

FMD transmitted from person to person was not recorded. After the transferred disease, immunity is formed, but the duration of its activity is not established.

Physician therapist Shabanova IE