North and Central America and the Caribbean

Last outbreaks of FMD:

Country Year Serotype
Canada 1952 A
Curaçao 1969  
Greenland never -
Guadeloupe 1964 O
Jamaica 1953  
Mexico 1954 A
Trinidad & Tobago never -
USA 1929 unknown

Canada: FMD was first introduced in 1870. FMD type A was introduced into the Province of Saskatchewan in November 1951. The last case was reported in April 1952.

Curaçao (constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands): According to Machado (1969) there was an outbreak of FMD in 1957.

Guadeloupe (overseas region of France): The WRLFMD received a FMD type O virus from an outbreak in 1964.

Jamaica :Foot-and-mouth disease broke out in Jamaica in the 1920s, originating in cattle that were imported from India to upgrade the local stock. The disease was eradicated within a year after that outbreak. According to Machado (1969) there was an outbreak of FMD in Jamaica in 1953.

Martinique (overseas region of France): According to Machado (1969) there was an outbreak of FMD in 1952.

Mexico: FMD first(?) appeared in the vicinity of Frontera in the State of Tabasco in 1925. The outbreak spread from Tabasco into parts of the adjoining States of Campeche, Chiapas, and Yucatan before the disease was eradicated in November 1926. FMD type A was introduced into the State of Veracruz in 1946. In October 1949, type O was introduced. Further outbreaks occurred in December 1950 (type ?; Municipio of Espinal, Veracruz), in August 1951 (type O?; in another section of Veracruz), and in May 1953 (type A; La Isla, Municipio of Gutierrez Zamora, Veracruz).

Trinidad & Tobago: FMD-free (samples tested by WRLFMD in 2014. Details)

The United States has suffered from nine outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease. Three of these occurred before the turn of the century, in 1870 (New England), 1880, and 1884. Since 1900, six outbreaks have occurred, in 1902, 1908, 1914 (22 states), 1924 (two separate outbreaks), and 1929 (California). All the outbreaks occurring before the turn of the century were traced to importation of infected livestock; but, since the development of a Federal system of inspection and quarantine of imported livestock, no outbreak has been attributed to admission of live animals.


Sellers R.F. and Daggupaty, S M. (1990). The epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease in Saskatchewan, Canada, 1951-1952.  Can. J. Vet. Res., 54: 457–464.full text

Daggupaty, S.M. and R F Sellers, R.F. (1990). Airborne spread of foot-and-mouth disease in Saskatchewan, Canada, 1951-1952. Can. J. Vet. Res., 54: 465–468.full text

Machado, M.A., Jr. (1969). Aftosa. A Historical Survey of Foot-and-Mouth Disease and Inter-American Relations. State University of New York Press, Albany. pp. xv+182 pp.full text

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