Causes & Transmission of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease

Hand, foot, and mouth disease is caused by viruses. A person infected with one of these viruses is contagious, which means that they can ... Skipdirectlytositecontent Skipdirectlytopageoptions SkipdirectlytoA-Zlink Hand,Foot,andMouthDisease(HFMD) SectionNavigation CDCHome Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate Causes&TransmissionEspañol(Spanish) Minus RelatedPages Hand,foot,andmouthdiseasespreadseasilythrough        ` Person-to-personcontact Respiratorydropletscontainingvirusparticleswhenaninfectedpersoncoughsorsneezes Contactwithcontaminatedsurfacesandobjects Hand,foot,andmouthdiseaseiscontagious Hand,foot,andmouthdiseaseiscausedbyviruses.Apersoninfectedwithoneofthesevirusesiscontagious,whichmeansthattheycanpassthevirustootherpeople. Theviruscanspreadtoothersthroughaninfectedperson’s Noseandthroatsecretions,suchassaliva,drool,ornasalmucus Fluidfromblistersorscabs Feces(poop) Peoplewithhand,foot,andmouthdiseaseareusuallymostcontagiousduringthefirstweekthattheyaresick.Peoplecansometimesspreadthevirustoothersfordaysorweeksaftersymptomsgoawayoriftheyhavenosymptomsatall. Howitspreads Youcangethand,foot,andmouthdiseaseby Contactwithrespiratorydropletscontainingvirusparticlesafterasickpersoncoughsorsneezes Touchinganinfectedpersonormakingotherclosecontact,likekissing,hugging,orsharingcupsoreatingutensils Touchinganinfectedperson’sfeces,suchaschangingdiapers,thentouchingyoureyes,nose,ormouth Touchingobjectsandsurfacesthathavethevirusonthem,likedoorknobsortoys,thentouchingyoureyes,nose,ormouth Rarely,youcanalsogetthevirusesbyswallowingrecreationalwater,suchaswaterinswimmingpools.Thiscanhappenifthewaterisnotproperlytreatedwithchlorineandbecomescontaminatedwithfecesfromapersonwhohashand,foot,andmouthdisease. Hand,Foot,andMouthDiseaseisCommon InsummerandfallintheU.S.,butyoucangetitanytimeofyear. Inschoolsanddaycares.Childrenshouldstayhomewhiletheyhavesymptomsofhand,foot,andmouthdisease. Virusesthatcausehand,foot,andmouthdisease Hand,foot,andmouthdiseaseiscausedbyvirusesthatbelongtotheEnterovirus family. Commoncausesofhand,foot,andmouthdiseaseare: CoxsackievirusA16istypicallythemostcommoncauseofhand,foot,andmouthdiseaseintheUnitedStates.Othercoxsackievirusescanalsocausetheillness. CoxsackievirusA6canalsocauseHFMDandthesymptomsmaybemoresevere. Enterovirus71(EV-A71)hasbeenassociatedwithcasesandoutbreaksinEastandSoutheastAsia.Althoughrare,EV-A71hasbeenassociatedwithmoreseverediseasessuchasencephalitis(swellingofthebrain). Animalsdonotgethand,foot,andmouthdisease Animalssuchascattle,pigs,sheep,andgoatscangetfootandmouthdisease(orhoof-and-mouthdisease),whichisdifferentthanhand,foot,andmouthdisease. VisittheUSDAwebsitetolearnmoreaboutfootandmouthdiseaseexternalicon. handwashingiconPreventHFMDfromspreadingLearnmore RelatedTopics Prevention Symptoms Treatment WashYourHands Washyourhandsoftenforatleast20secondstostopgermsfromspreading. WhenandHowtoWashYourHands Pagelastreviewed:February2,2021 Contentsource: NationalCenterforImmunizationandRespiratoryDiseases(NCIRD),DivisionofViralDiseases home HFMDHome Symptoms&Diagnosis Complications Causes&Transmission Prevention Treatment References&Resources RelatedLinksNon-PolioEnterovirusInfectionsEmergingDiseaseSurveillanceandResponse:Hand,Foot,andMouthDisease,WorldHealthOrganizationExternal file_external Facebook Twitter LinkedIn SAS stats ExitNotification/DisclaimerPolicy Close LinkswiththisiconindicatethatyouareleavingtheCDCwebsite. TheCentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention(CDC)cannotattesttotheaccuracyofanon-federalwebsite. Linkingtoanon-federalwebsitedoesnotconstituteanendorsementbyCDCoranyofitsemployeesofthesponsorsortheinformationandproductspresentedonthewebsite. Youwillbesubjecttothedestinationwebsite'sprivacypolicywhenyoufollowthelink. CDCisnotresponsibleforSection508compliance(accessibility)onotherfederalorprivatewebsite. FormoreinformationonCDC'swebnotificationpolicies,seeWebsiteDisclaimers. Cancel Continue