What Is Vesicular Stomatitis?
Vesicular stomatitis is a sporadic, reemerging viral disease characterized by vesicular lesions on the tongue, oral mucosa, teats, or coronary bands of cattle, horses, and swine. The disease also affects sheep and goats. Many species of wild animals, including deer, bobcats, goats, raccoons, and monkeys, are also susceptible. People who handle infected animals also can become infected with vesicular stomatitis. Vesicular stomatitis is most likely to occur during warm months in the Southwest, particularly along riverways and in valleys. The most recent outbreak of vesicular stomatitis occurred in the Southwestern United States from May to December 1995. Aside from its economic impact, vesicular stomatitis is significant because its outward signs are similar to (although generally less severe than) those of foot-and-mouth disease, a devastating foreign disease of clovenhoofed animals that was eradicated from the United States in 1929. The only way to diagnose and differentiate these dise
