Quantitative data on airborne foot-and-mouth disease virus: its production, carriage and deposition

Abstract

The evidence for the airborne spread of foot-and-mouth disease during outbreaks in Europe between the turn of the century and the late 1960s is reviewed. The early experimental evidence is also outlined. More recent experimental investigation is then described in detail, including the procedures used to quantify airborne foot-and-mouth disease virus levels excreted by different susceptible species, the probably origin of this virus, the times of maximum virus release, the influence of virus strain and the nature of virus—aerosol particle association. Further experiments are described in which the influence of environmental factors such as ultraviolet light, relative humidity and pollutants on the survival of foot-and-mouth virus in aerosols has been examined. Finally, the extent of knowledge about the amounts of foot-and-mouth disease virus required to infect susceptible livestock by the airborne route is discussed.