Eyes are on Europe: Could foot-and-mouth disease overtake bird flu?

By Claire Wolters | Fact-checked by Davi Sherman
Published January 17, 2025

Key Takeaways

Industry Insights

  • “Avian influenza virus has been shown, in rare cases, to infect humans who have direct contact with infected birds. Although it can cause severe human illness, human-to-human spread at this point is extraordinarily rare.” - Andrew Handel, MD

  • “Foot-and-mouth disease, on the other hand, does not cause human infections.” - Andrew Handel, MD

German authorities have reported the country’s first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in nearly 40 years.[] Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious disease that impacts animals, particularly cloven-hoofed animals like cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and deer.[] Announced on January 10, 2025, Germany’s outbreak was detected in a herd of water buffalo near Berlin.

How worrisome is FMD?

According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), FMD is severe, fast spreading, and “one of the most challenging animal diseases to control.”[2] Animals with FMD generally survive the illness, but are left weak and unable to produce the same amount of milk or meat they were capable of producing prior to infection, according to APHIS. Despite new reports in Germany, FMD has not been reported in the US. Here, APHIS says, FMD has been eradicated since 1929.

Foot-and-mouth disease is not a human health or food safety threat, according to APHIS.

Could FMD overtake bird flu?

Foot-and-mouth disease is one of many diseases that affects animals and not humans. On rare occasions, subtypes of other animal diseases—like subtypes of avian influenza—have infected humans. 

Andrew Handel, MD, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at Stony Brook Children's Hospital, reminds patients and practitioners that human infection from avian flu is rare, and that animal-to-human infections have not been reported in relation to FMD.

“Avian influenza virus has been shown, in rare cases, to infect humans who have direct contact with infected birds. Although it can cause severe human illness, human-to-human spread at this point is extraordinarily rare,” Dr. Handel says. “Foot-and-mouth disease, on the other hand, does not cause human infections.”

Though the current outbreak does not present a risk to human health, some countries are taking steps to contain it. According to Reuters, Britain, Mexico, and South Korea have all imposed bans on imports of certain meats or dairy products from Germany following the country’s FMD announcement.[]

Share with emailShare to FacebookShare to LinkedInShare to Twitter
ADVERTISEMENT