Some highly processed animal products will continue to be permitted entry from the Britain, as they present no risk of foot and mouth disease. This covers commercially cooked, shelf-stable meat products such as canned meat, canned soup, meat stock powders and stock cubes. The commercial cooking process for the manufacture of these products removes any risk of foot and mouth disease infection. A massive quantity of the virus can be released from infected animals and the virus has the ability to travel over long distances by airborne dispersal. Animals go off their feed, are depressed and lame, and may salivate profusely.
Animals take several weeks to recover from the disease.
However, there are significant production effects such as weight loss, a reduction in milk and meat quality, and pregnant animals may abort. FMD is endemic in the continents of Africa, Asia and South America, although some countries on those continents have successfully controlled and eradicated the disease. In countries free of the disease, outbreaks are typically met with stamping out procedures, due to the severe economic impacts of the disease. MAF maintains systems with specific capability to respond in this way to exotic diseases such as foot and mouth disease.