You have found vesicles on the feet of swine but the cows in an adjacent pen are not affected. Which of the following diseases is most likely?

• A. Trauma from standing on cement or vesicular stomatitis
• B. Swine vesicular disease or foot and mouth disease
• C. Swine vesicular disease (SVD, an enterovirus) or celery in the pigs' diet
• D. Vesicular stomatitis or foot and mouth disease

Answer: (C)

Vesicular lesions that appear on swine feet while cows in an adjacent pen remain unaffected point to a disease that is largely restricted to pigs rather than one that involves multiple species. Swine vesicular disease fits this pattern. It is caused by an enterovirus and typically causes vesicles on the feet (and sometimes the mouth) of pigs, with cattle and other cloven-hooved animals spared or only minimally affected. This contrasts with foot-and-mouth disease or vesicular stomatitis, which commonly involve cattle and other species as part of an outbreak, making cows likely to show signs if those diseases were circulating. The option mentioning celery in the pigs’ diet isn’t a known cause of vesicular lesions, while trauma would not produce the classic vesicular blisters. So the most consistent explanation is Swine vesicular disease.