Case of FMDV in dogs after eating infected meat

A case report filed by scientists at The Pirbright Institute details the first instance of naturally acquired foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) infection in dogs. In this unusual case reported in BMC Veterinary Research, FMDV was identified in a sample of heart tissue received by Pirbright’s diagnostic laboratory, the World Reference Laboratory for Foot-and-Mouth Disease (WRLFMD). The sample was from one of five young dogs that had died after being fed the carcasses of lambs which died during an FMD outbreak on a farm in Iran.

As this is the first reported case of its kind, and given the widespread distribution of FMD in certain regions of the world, this presentation of the virus is assumed to be extremely rare.

The report contains no evidence that dogs are able to contract the disease from live infected animals or that they are capable of spreading the disease as a result of being infected. It does, however, further highlight the dangers of feeding livestock carcasses to other animals where FMD is in circulation. This is an extra consideration for the veterinary profession in countries where FMD is continuously present and where similar case presentations could arise.

Article: Waters, R. A., Wadsworth, J., Mioulet, V., Shaw, A. E., Knowles, N. J., Abdollahi, D., Hassanzadeh, R., Sumption, K., & King, D. P. (2021). Foot-and-mouth disease virus infection in the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris), Iran. BMC Veterinary Research, 17, 63, doi: 10.1186/s12917-021-02769-1

[SOURCE: The Pirbright Institute]