Reemergence of Foot and Mouth Disease in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an acute highly contagious viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals which has been discovered more than 100 years ago. The causative organism is a RNA virus belongs to the Aphthovirus genus, Picornaviridae family. The disease is endemic in India and every year the economic loss due to direct and indirect cause is more than USD 4 billion annually. The Andaman & Nicobar Islands also suffered due to the outbreak of FMD in the year 2005 which was due to serotype O. However, in the present study the reemergence of FMD virus almost after a gap of 13 years has been reported from the South Andaman district of the A & N Islands. The outbreak was confirmed as serotype O and is mainly affected more than 800 cattle, goat and buffalo population. The reemergence of the FMD virus in the islands has posed a serious concern to the livestock of this island which is now being considered as almost free from many of the dreaded disease. Based on the epidemiological investigation it could be concluded that the virus might have entered through the transport of straws which is being used as packing materials for vegetable and fruits from mainland.