Do small numbers of pet animals such as sheep really pose a risk to other animals?
• FMD is transmitted by three main routes: direct contact between infected and susceptible animals, indirect contact (e.g. movement of infected milk or faeces from infected animals) and windborne spread. Small numbers of llamas, pet sheep and other ruminants are unlikely to become infected by windborne spread unless they are directly downwind of infected pigs and would be extremely unlikely to infect other animals downwind of them. A single pet pig on the other hand, might produce enough virus to infect cattle five kilometres downwind in good conditions for wind-borne spread.
