Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Cows: Symptoms, Spread, and Emergency Response
- See your vet immediately if a cow has drooling, mouth blisters, sudden lameness, or sores around the hooves or teats.
- Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals. In the United States, any suspected case is an animal health emergency and must be reported right away.
- Early signs often start 2 to 14 days after exposure and can include fever, reduced appetite, stringy saliva, lip smacking, and reluctance to walk.
- Do not move animals, milk, equipment, trailers, or people on and off the premises until your vet or animal health officials advise you.
- There is no routine at-home treatment plan. Care decisions may involve quarantine, testing, movement control, supportive herd care, and official state or federal response steps.
What Is Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Cows?
See your vet immediately. Foot-and-mouth disease, often called FMD, is a severe viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and some wildlife. It causes fever and painful blister-like lesions that can break open on the tongue, lips, mouth, teats, and feet. In cattle, those sores can make eating, standing, and walking difficult.
FMD spreads very fast within and between herds. Even though many adult cattle survive, they may become weak, lose weight, produce less milk, and take time to recover. Young animals can become much sicker and may die from heart damage associated with infection.
This disease is especially important because it is a foreign animal disease in the United States. That means a suspected case is not handled like a routine farm illness. Your vet may need to involve state or federal animal health officials right away so testing and movement control can begin.
FMD is not the same as hand, foot, and mouth disease in children. It is also not considered a human health or food safety threat, but it is a major livestock emergency because of how quickly it can spread and disrupt animal movement and production.
Symptoms of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Cows
- Fever
- Heavy drooling or stringy saliva
- Blisters or raw erosions in the mouth
- Sudden lameness
- Blisters or sores at the coronary band or between the claws
- Drop in milk production
- Reduced appetite and weight loss
- Teat lesions
- Weakness or sudden death in calves
When to worry: immediately. Mouth blisters, foot blisters, sudden lameness in more than one animal, or a fast drop in milk production should be treated as an emergency until proven otherwise. FMD can look like other diseases, including vesicular stomatitis, bluetongue, bovine viral diarrhea, or foot rot, so visual signs alone are not enough.
Call your vet at once and stop animal movement on and off the farm. Separate affected animals if you can do so safely, but avoid sharing boots, tools, halters, milk equipment, or trailers between groups until your vet gives instructions.
What Causes Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Cows?
Foot-and-mouth disease is caused by foot-and-mouth disease virus, a highly contagious virus with multiple serotypes. Immunity to one type does not reliably protect against the others, which is one reason outbreaks are difficult to control.
The virus spreads through direct contact with infected animals and through contaminated materials such as clothing, boots, vehicles, trailers, feed areas, tools, and housing surfaces. It can also move in respiratory secretions, saliva, milk, and fluid from fresh blisters. In dairy cattle, virus can be shed in milk before obvious clinical signs appear.
Cattle may become infected after exposure to newly purchased animals, shared transport, livestock markets, fairs, feedlots, or contaminated people and equipment. International travel can also matter. Dirty footwear, clothing, animal products, or farm contact abroad can increase the risk of bringing the virus onto a farm.
Because FMD is so contagious, one sick cow can signal a herd-level problem rather than an isolated case. That is why rapid reporting and strict biosecurity matter as much as individual animal care.
How Is Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Cows Diagnosed?
FMD cannot be confirmed by appearance alone. In cattle, the lesions can look very similar to vesicular stomatitis and some other blistering or lameness conditions. If your vet suspects FMD, they will treat it as a reportable emergency and coordinate with state or federal animal health officials.
Diagnosis is made with laboratory testing. Samples often include vesicular epithelium or vesicular fluid from fresh lesions. Blood samples may also be used, but timing matters because virus in the bloodstream is short-lived.
While waiting for official guidance, your vet may recommend immediate movement restrictions, isolation of affected groups, and strict cleaning and disinfection steps for people, equipment, and vehicles. They may also review recent animal purchases, travel history, milk movement, and contact with markets or exhibitions.
If FMD is ruled out, your vet can then focus on other causes of mouth lesions and lameness. That step is important because several diseases can mimic FMD early on.
Treatment Options for Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Cows
Spectrum of Care means you have options. Here are treatment tiers at different price points.
Budget-Conscious Care
- Immediate veterinary evaluation and reportable disease triage
- Stop-movement plan for animals, milk, people, and equipment until officials advise next steps
- Physical separation of affected and exposed cattle when feasible
- Supportive care directed by your vet, such as easier access to water, softer feed, shade, and low-stress handling
- Basic cleaning and disinfection of boots, tools, and traffic pathways
Recommended Standard Treatment
- Urgent on-farm exam by your vet with immediate notification of animal health authorities when indicated
- Official sample collection and laboratory submission through approved channels
- Herd-level movement control and exposure mapping
- Supportive care plans for affected cattle, including hydration, feed access, wound monitoring, and pain-management decisions made by your vet
- Written biosecurity protocols for staff, visitors, vehicles, and equipment
- Monitoring of calves and high-risk animals for rapid decline
Advanced / Critical Care
- Large-scale incident management with your vet, state officials, and federal response teams as needed
- Expanded quarantine and controlled entry-exit systems
- Intensive supportive care for valuable or severely affected animals when allowed and appropriate
- Enhanced sanitation, traffic control, carcass handling guidance if losses occur, and detailed record review
- Vaccination only if authorized by animal health authorities during an outbreak response
- Recovery planning for production losses, restocking timelines, and long-term biosecurity upgrades
Cost estimates as of 2026-03. Actual costs vary by location, clinic, and individual case.
Questions to Ask Your Vet About Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Cows
Bring these questions to your vet appointment to get the most out of your visit.
- Do these signs fit foot-and-mouth disease, or are other conditions more likely?
- Should I stop all animal, milk, trailer, and equipment movement right now?
- Which animals should be isolated first, and how should staff move between groups safely?
- What samples need to be collected, and who will coordinate official testing?
- What supportive care is appropriate for affected cows while we wait for results?
- Are calves or fresh cows at higher risk in this herd, and how should we monitor them?
- What disinfectants and cleaning steps are appropriate for boots, tools, pens, and vehicles?
- If this is ruled out, what other diseases could cause similar mouth sores or lameness?
How to Prevent Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Cows
Prevention starts with strong biosecurity. Limit unnecessary visitors, keep records of who enters animal areas, clean and disinfect boots and equipment, and avoid sharing trailers, tools, or handling gear between farms unless they have been thoroughly cleaned. New or returning cattle should be managed carefully and discussed with your vet before mixing with the herd.
Travel history matters. If you, your staff, or visitors have recently been on farms or around livestock outside the United States, follow strict hygiene rules before entering cattle areas. USDA advises avoiding contact with livestock for 5 days after returning from farm or livestock exposure abroad.
Watch closely for fever, drooling, mouth lesions, sudden lameness, or a drop in milk production, especially after animal movement, market exposure, or events where livestock from multiple sources mix. Early recognition can limit spread.
Most importantly, report suspicious signs immediately. In the United States, rapid reporting is one of the most effective emergency response tools because it allows testing, quarantine decisions, and outbreak control measures to begin as fast as possible.