Q: Could you please clarify the column you wrote regarding foot and mouth disease? It is causing some consternation in our northern Saskatchewan community where there has been a recent outbreak of hand-foot-and-mouth disease.
A: Thank you for your concern, because I do not wish to alarm anyone about foot-and-mouth disease. The person who wrote the original letter was using the wrong terminology, and really did not mean foot-and-mouth disease. I want to reiterate that this is a serious disease in cattle and other livestock, and there are no cases at all in Canada. Unfortunately, the last couple of lines of my column were edited out due to lack of space, and this did affect the meaning of the last paragraph that I had written.
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I expect the reader meant to say “hand-foot-and-mouth” disease, which is a mild viral illness of young children, caused by one of the Coxsackie A viruses, or an enterovirus.
The incubation period is four to six days and it spreads in a similar way to colds, generally by touching an infected person directly. Washing hands frequently will help prevent the spread of this infectious disease.
The symptoms are a mild fever, swollen glands and a rash on the hands, feet or buttocks. The rash resembles small blisters about three to seven millimetres in size on a reddish base. Blisters may also appear inside the mouth, affecting the palate, gums and sometimes the lips.
The illness is generally mild and self-limiting. The blisters and rash disappear after about a week without any treatment. Tylenol can be given for the fever, if necessary. Adults can sometimes contract this infection, but they make up only 10 percent of the cases.
As with any viral illness, there can occasionally be serious complications such as aseptic meningitis or encephalitis, but these are rare.
