No non-zoonotic disease (i.e. diseases that do not affect the health of people) causes as much disruption to animal production and international trade in commodities and products derived from animals as FMD. This situation results from historical approaches and policies that have evolved over many decades. Consequently countries in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the developing world have difficulty in exporting animals and animal products to high-value markets. Paradoxically, especially in extensive livestock production systems, FMD usually causes relatively mild disease in the wide range of domestic and free-living cloven-hoofed animals that are susceptible to it.