Foot and mouth disease. The importance of biosecurity in the growing challenge of infectious diseases in livestock production.

Since January 10th, 2025, the European livestock sector has been facing a significant challenge with the outbreak of foot and mouth disease biosecurity concerns. The first outbreak in nearly four decades was detected in Germany, specifically in a herd of water buffalo in Brandenburg. This situation underscores the critical need for robust biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease.

This is not the first time farmers have been alarmed by this contagious virus in Europe in the last century. An outbreak of FMD in the UK in 2001 showed us the damage this disease can cause. This UK outbreak led to the slaughter of over 6 million animals on infected farms and nearby farms to control the disease.

In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in the prevalence of infectious diseases affecting livestock. This trend is concerning for farmers and the agricultural industry. Factors such as intensified farming practices, global trade, climate change, and the movement of animals across borders have all contributed to a rise in the frequency and severity of outbreaks. Diseases like foot-and-mouth disease, avian influenza, and African swine fever are becoming more prevalent, posing significant risks to animal health, food security, and the economy. As livestock farming becomes more interconnected on a global scale, diseases can spread more rapidly, affecting entire regions or even continents in a matter of weeks. Infected animals may not always show immediate symptoms, which means that without early detection and strong biosecurity measures, an outbreak can go unnoticed until it is too late. The economic impact of these diseases is immense, often leading to large-scale culling of infected animals, market disruptions, and costly recovery efforts.

 

Foot-and-mouth Disease

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals. It is caused by the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), which belongs to the Picornaviridae family, genus Aphtovirus, which includes 7 immunologically distinct serotypes as well as numerous different subtypes. The disease is endemic in large regions of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America.

Serotypes: A, O, C, SAT1, SAT2, SAT3, and Asia I (there is no cross-immunity between them). Within each serotype, different subtypes are also distinguished, which can be immunologically different.

Hosts: all species of cloven-hoofed animals, both domestic and wild, including various species of bovids, ovines, caprines, and suids.

Direct transmission: Viruses can spread easily through direct contact with infected animals or their secretions (saliva, milk, urine, feces).

Indirect transmission: indirect contact via contaminated equipment, vehicles, or clothing, or airborne spread (especially in cooler climates).

Incubation period: 2-14 days (in small ruminants, it can be up to 21 days).

Symptoms: 

• Fever

• Blisters in the mouth, tongue, and on hooves
• Excessive salivation or drooling
• Difficulty eating or walking
• Weight loss
• Reduced milk production.

How To Fight/Prevent FMD.

To combat this growing threat, it’s critical to invest in robust biosecurity measures and early warning systems that can detect and contain outbreaks before they spiral out of control. Enhanced surveillance, vaccination programs, and improved disease management practices are key strategies for reducing the risk of diseases entering and spreading within livestock populations.

• Biosecurity measures.

Precautionary biosecurity measures on farms are of the utmost importance to minimize the risk of further spread. First, it is crucial to thoroughly clean and disinfect the contaminated areas in case of infection. Furthermore, quarantine and movement restrictions can also put a halt to any further spreading of the disease to other areas. 

• Footbaths, and wheelbaths used: to disinfect shoes and vehicles and their wheels.
• Vehicles cleaning and disinfection (disinfection arches): Both the vehicles that enter our facilities and the people who drive them must be cleaned and disinfected since they can act as spreaders of diseases. Cleaning both the interior and exterior of the car is very important, special care must be taken with the wheels.
• Equipment cleaning and disinfection: Countless objects enter our facilities. In addition to raw materials that our suppliers enter, so we must exercise strict control and sterilize all items, making sure that they are all properly disinfected.
• Traffic and people restriction: The number of visitors who access our facilities should be minimized, only the people necessary for the operation of the facility should enter.
• Water and feed: The microbiological quality of the water must be high, in addition, proper cleaning and regular maintenance must be carried out on the feeders and drinkers to avoid the risk of spreading the disease.
• Look for signs of illness (quarantine and movement restrictions).

• Vaccination programs.

In areas prone to outbreak it is advised to organize vaccination campaigns, while in endemic regions regular vaccination is advised. As previously mentioned, in case of serious outbreaks it might be necessary to slaughter any infected or exposed livestock. Early detection and reporting of suspected cases play a key role in the fight against FMD to control the situation. 

Applying these measures and decisive acting will control an outbreak and will restore FMD-free status in the area. This German outbreak once again highlights the critical need to reinforce biosecurity measures to safeguard animal health and the agricultural sector.

For this reason, the use well well-proven cleaners and disinfectants is needed to strengthen biosecurity programs and help prevent an FMD outbreak.

Products to use in the Biosafety plan

• Cleaning:

As is well known, livestock farms are places where conditions of high content of organic matter, heat, humidity, and high density of animals. These conditions make our facilities the optimal place for the proliferation of pathogenic organisms. For this reason, it is necessary to carry out a correct cleaning with an alkaline detergent capable of removing the organic matter that protects pathogenic microorganisms.

For this, we recommend the use of Clean Zix Foaming detergent to carry out a correct cleaning and descaling of organic matter.

In this way, all parts of the farm will be exposed so that the disinfectants can act and reach the greatest number of microorganisms present. 

• Disinfection:

Once the cleaning is done, it is time to combat microorganisms by confronting them with broad-spectrum products, with a non-specific mechanism of action that prevents the appearance of resistance, that are kind to animals, staff, and the environment. 

For this, we recommend the disinfectants Virox (potassium monopersulfate in powder form) and Zix Virox (synergistic combination of peroxides and peracetic acid in liquid form).

These products have an oxidation mechanism of action that is non-specific, broad-spectrum, and fully biodegradable. Zix Virox has been tested against FMDV at 1% ASTM E1052-96.

 

Conclusions: 

Biosafety is of vital importance to prevent the spread of the disease. The disinfection of people, elements, raw materials, animals, and facilities is essential and must be carried out with disinfectants with proven efficacy against FMDV.

If we follow the Foot and Mouth Disease Biosecurity and prevention measures exhaustively and without fail, we will not only be able to protect ourselves against FMD and other types of diseases, but these measures will act in a complementary manner to other biosafety measures that are being implemented in the different links in the production chain. In addition, we will be indirectly protecting society in general.

The key to success is to get the involvement of all the personnel involved in the production; everyone must be aware of the importance of Foot and Mouth Disease Biosecurity to put all the necessary effort into applying the measures effectively. Only in this way can the disease be prevented and the spread of the virus avoided.