About foot and mouth disease

What animals does it affect?

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is caused by a virus that only infects cloven-hooved animals. An animal is cloven-hooved if its foot is divided in two. In New Zealand this includes cows, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, alpaca and llama. The disease doesn't affect other animals, such as rodents, cats, dogs, birds, or horses.

FMD is an animal health disease. It has no significant health impacts on humans. Even though it has a similar name, it differs completely from the human condition, 'hand, foot and mouth disease'.

What you need to know about foot and mouth disease – YouTube

Why is the disease a problem?

FMD spreads quickly and before infected animals show symptoms. Many farms could be infected by FMD before we find the first case in New Zealand.

An outbreak of FMD would have a major impact on susceptible animals, our primary industries and the economy because:

it reduces agricultural productivity
it can be very painful for infected animals
all trade in animal products would be stopped and rural businesses (such as farms, farm contractors, animal processors, and transporters) would be affected
it would severely impact exports of dairy, red meat and pork products for months or even years after the outbreak, as we would no longer be regarded as FMD-free by trading countries.

Economic impact of FMD on New Zealand

The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) has produced 2 assessments (2014 and 2024) of the likely economic impacts of an outbreak of the disease here.

The 2024 report (in 2 parts) reviews and updates the 2014 report and informed a Cabinet decision on how to respond to an FMD incursion.

Cabinet paper: Initial strategic response in the event of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease [PDF, 1 MB]

Economic impacts of a foot and mouth disease incursion in New Zealand – summary and full report (May 2024) [PDF, 1.7 MB]

Foot and mouth disease economic impact assessment (2014) [PDF, 840 KB]

Enhancing our protections and readiness

Indonesia is currently managing an FMD outbreak of the disease. This situation does not significantly raise the risk to New Zealand but we are committed to reviewing biosecurity settings where required. We’ve taken several steps to boost our protections at the border to keep FMD out of New Zealand.

Travellers arriving from Indonesia

Due to the heightened risk of FMD in Indonesia, Biosecurity New Zealand has enhanced screening for travellers arriving directly from Bali. These travellers:

must have their footwear disinfected, using a footbath at the arrival gate
may be asked more questions by quarantine officers to assess their risk
may have their baggage searched.

We encourage arriving air passengers from Indonesia to wear closed-toed shoes for their flight to New Zealand rather than open-toed footwear like jandals, flip-flops, or sandals. This will speed up the process for disinfecting footwear.

All travellers can protect New Zealand from FMD by:

avoiding contact with wildlife or livestock, such as cattle, pigs, or goats
avoiding visiting farmlands or rice fields
making sure shoes and clothing are free of any soil or dirt
avoiding bringing back risk items, including animal-based food products and skulls or untanned leather souvenirs
staying away from New Zealand farms or livestock for at least a week after arrival.

Quarantine officers may ask passengers extra biosecurity questions upon arrival. Examples include:

Have you been in contact with any wildlife or livestock such as cattle, pigs, or goats?
Have you visited any farmlands (including rice fields)?
Do you have any shoes or equipment contaminated with soil or that have been on any farmlands or rice fields?
Do you have any animal products such as food items and souvenirs such as skulls and untanned leather?

Make sure you give honest answers. A false declaration may incur a $400 fine.

FMD Taskforce

In 2022, MPI set up a dedicated FMD taskforce to focus our readiness work for the unlikely event of an incursion.

The taskforce worked closely with stakeholders and other government agencies to further refresh our FMD plans.

Find out how we're preparing for an outbreak

Early detection is vital

Early detection of FMD would be vital so we can respond quickly, eradicate the disease as soon as possible, and resume trade in animal products. We would all have a role to play in helping New Zealand recover from an FMD outbreak.

It's easy to spread, harder to stop

FMD is highly contagious and can be spread:

through direct contact between infected and susceptible animals
when infected meat is fed to susceptible animals
by objects or people that come into contact with infected animals
by wind or water – particularly from infected piggeries. The wind can carry the virus up to several hundred kilometres.

Infected animals can spread the virus through:

breath and saliva
meat and milk
manure or other waste products
semen or blood
contamination of mud or soil by hooves.

The virus can survive several months without a host (for example, in soil) under favourable conditions.

Disinfectants can kill the virus on objects

Cleaning and applying an approved disinfectant kills the virus on objects such as footwear, vehicles, clothing and farm equipment. For disinfection to be effective, it's important that items are cleaned first.

How FMD could get into NZ

The foot and mouth virus usually enters a country through contaminated animal products (such as ham, salami or waste containing meat products), which are then fed to susceptible animals such as pigs. Infected pigs produce large amounts of the virus and are important in the spread of FMD – through direct contact with other susceptible animals, or by wind. In New Zealand, it's illegal to feed pigs untreated meat or waste that might have contacted raw meat. These products must be cooked for at least an hour at 100 degrees Celsius.

New Zealand doesn't accept animal products from countries with foot and mouth disease and we have strict controls for imported animal products. However, it's possible that the virus could get in through illegally imported animal products.

Find which countries and zones are free from FMD

Read about the restrictions on feeding pigs untreated meat

Signs and symptoms

High fever for 2 or 3 days.
Blisters or sores around the mouth, muzzle, feet and teats.
Drooling, tooth grinding and chomping.
Lameness (limping) or a tendency to lie down (pigs may also squeal when walking).
Shivering or raised temperature.
Lethargy or depression.
Drop in milk yield for cows.
Death of young animals.

Read a clinical description of the disease for vets