Main Entry: foot–and–mouth disease

Function: noun

Date: 1862

: an acute contagious febrile disease especially of cloven-footed animals that is caused by serotypes of a picornavirus (species Foot-and-mouth disease virus of the genus Aphthovirus) and is marked by ulcerating vesicles in the mouth, about the hooves, and on the udder and teats —called also foot-and-mouth, hoof-and-mouth disease — compare hand, foot and mouth disease