It sometimes meant sleeping wherever night found you. Or traveling by jeep to the end of the road and riding a mule six days to your final destination. Or having ice to keep cool vaccines dropped by airplane. If anyone has seen the disease, the effects it has on cattle, it's not a pretty sight. It also can cause high mortality in young livestock, such as pigs.
Infected animals develop blisters in the mouth, tongue, muzzle, teats and skin between the hooves.
The virus spread rapidly from the original outbreak in Veracruz to much of central and southern Mexico. A herd of healthy cows that just the night before manifested no symptoms whatever, by morning is groaning with pain from the ulcerations that have formed on the udder, teats, mouth, and feet. As part of the cooperative program, inspectors like Faseler and veterinarians were dispatched to Mexico to help fight the disease. Every American inspector had a counterpart from Mexico. In addition, the vaccination teams usually included 10-15 cowboys and helpers to assist with livestock.