Foot-and-mouth disease virus

Foot-and-mouth disease virus
Electronmicrograph of Foot-and-mouth disease virus
Virus classification
(unranked):	Virus
Realm:	Riboviria
Kingdom:	Orthornavirae
Phylum:	Pisuviricota
Class:	Pisoniviricetes
Order:	Picornavirales
Family:	Picornaviridae
Genus:	Aphthovirus
Species:	Foot-and-mouth disease virus

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is a virus in the genus Aphthovirus that causes foot-and-mouth disease.^[1] As a member of the family Picornaviridae, FMDV is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus. Like other members of the Picornavirus family, FMDV is small and unenveloped, with an icosahedral capsid.^[2]

The virus causes foot-and-mouth disease, a highly contagious disease affecting cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and other cloven-hoofed animals. Foot-and-mouth disease causes fever and the formation of vesicles (blisters) in infected animals, which form in the mouth and on the feet and teats. While the disease is usually nonfatal to adult livestock, survivors are left in a weakened state which impacts both meat and milk production, making outbreaks very costly and disruptive to agricultural production overall.^[3]