"Foot-and-mouth disease is a severe, highly contagious viral disease of wild and domestic animals. It primarily affects cattle and pigs, but infections can also occur in sheep, deer, and other cloven-hooved animals.

Infections in humans are extremely rare. The disease has not been reported in the United States since 1929. However, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease is occurring in the United Kingdom and has received considerable attention in the media recently.

For general information about foot-and-mouth disease, please visit the "Foot-and-Mouth Disease" page at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/fmd/index.html on the US Department of Agriculture Web site.

For information about the outbreak of this disease in the United Kingdom, please visit the "Foot and Mouth Disease" page at http://www.maff.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/fmd/default.htm on the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food Web site."