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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 diseaseExamples 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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Foot-and-mouth disease.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foot-and-mouth%20disease. Accessed 23 Nov. 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 diseaseMore from Merriam-Webster on foot-and-mouth disease
Britannica English: Translation of foot-and-mouth disease for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about foot-and-mouth disease
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