Protect Mexico's health from foot-and-mouth disease

• April 24, 2024

How many times have you wondered why, when we return from abroad, we can not bring a delicious raw milk cheese or a black leg ham to Mexico? Does it matter a lot if we know how to hide it well, without the authorities noticing it? Indeed, it matters and a lot . The last outbreak of aphtose fever registered in our country was in 1955 and, since then, all prevention, inspection and surveillance measures that have managed to keep the country free from this disease have been reinforced.

What is foot-and-mouth disease?

According to the National Service of Health, Food Safety and Quality of Mexico (SENASICA), foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious acute viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, both domestic and wild: cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, deer, wild boar, among others. AF is endemic in countries of the Middle East, Africa, Asia and some of Europe and runs the risk of introducing it to Mexico by importing live cloven hoof animals, its semen, or through products and meat or milk byproducts , biological material, food and waste from aircraft and ships from the affected countries.

Recent outbreak of FA in Japan and South Korea

In April of this year, outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease were detected in some regions of Japan and South Korea. SENASICA took extreme measures to inspect and monitor flights and vessels from these countries to prevent the entry of raw, processed, sausage, canned and dairy products of bovine, ovine, caprine and porcine origin, as well as cloven-hoofed animals. and other sources of contamination that could represent a zoosanitary risk for the Mexican cattle herd. For its part, the Japanese government reported that within the emergency measures adopted to control the foot-and-mouth disease virus, 2,917 cattle and 31,068 pigs were slaughtered.

How it is detected and what are its consequences

Foot-and-mouth disease is characterized by fever and ulcers in the form of blisters on the tongue and lips, on the muzzle, udders and between the hooves of cloven-hoofed animals and causes severe losses of production. In dairy cows, for example, there is a sudden drop in milk production. The economic impact of the AF is strong as it causes deficiencies in the national and international supply, as well as delay in the country's livestock development.

So next time, enjoy your raw milk cheese or a good tapa of black leg ham in their countries of origin ... and the health of Mexico!