Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) has spread widely and leads to high disease burden in many countries. However, relative transmissibility from male to female individuals remains unclear. HFMD surveillance database was built in Shenzhen City from 2013 to 2017. An intersex transmission susceptible–infectious–recovered model was developed to calculate the transmission relative rate among male individuals, among female individuals, from male to female and from female to male. Two indicators, ratio of transmission relative rate (Rβ) and relative transmissibility index (RTI), were developed to assess the relative transmissibility of male vs. female. During the study period, 270 347 HFMD cases were reported in the city, among which 16 were death cases with a fatality of 0.0059%. Reported incidence of total cases, male cases and female cases was 0.0057 (range: 0.0036–0.0058), 0.0052 (range: 0.0032–0.0053) and 0.0044 (range: 0.0026–0.0047), respectively. The difference was statistically significant between male and female (t = 3.046, P = 0.002). Rβ of male vs. female, female vs. female, from female to male vs. female and from male to female vs. female was 7.69, 1.00, 1.74 and 7.13, respectively. RTI of male vs. female, female vs. female, from female to male vs. female and from male to female vs. female was 3.08, 1.00, 1.88 and 1.43, respectively. Transmissibility of HFMD is different between male and female individuals. Male cases seem to be more transmissible than female.

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious and economically important disease of cloven-hoofed animals, which is endemic in Ethiopia. An outbreak follow-up study was undertaken to quantify the transmission parameters of FMD in the crop–livestock mixed (CLM) system and commercial dairy farms in selected areas of northwest Ethiopia. The transmission parameters were quantified using a generalised linear model (GLM) based on a susceptible–infectious–recovered (SIR) epidemic model. The per day average transmission rate between animals was 0.26 (95% CI 0.22–0.32) and 0.33 (95% CI 0.21–0.57) in the CLM system and in the commercial dairy farms, respectively. The average basic reproduction ratio of FMD was 1.68 (95% CI 1.42–2.07) in the CLM system and 1.98 (95% CI 1.26–3.42) in the commercial dairy farms. The medium per day transmission rate and moderate basic reproduction ratio observed in this study indicated that a vaccination coverage needed to stop transmission of the disease in these populations might not be very high.

Seasonal autoregressive-integrated moving average (SARIMA) has been widely used to model and forecast incidence of infectious diseases in time-series analysis. This study aimed to model and forecast monthly cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in China. Monthly incidence HFMD cases in China from May 2008 to August 2018 were analysed with the SARIMA model. A seasonal variation of HFMD incidence was found from May 2008 to August 2018 in China, with a predominant peak from April to July and a trough from January to March. In addition, the annual peak occurred periodically with a large annual peak followed by a relatively small annual peak. A SARIMA model of SARIMA (1, 1, 2) (0, 1, 1)12 was identified, and the mean error rate and determination coefficient were 16.86% and 94.27%, respectively. There was an annual periodicity and seasonal variation of HFMD incidence in China, which could be predicted well by a SARIMA (1, 1, 2) (0, 1, 1)12 model.

Since the late 1990s, hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) has become a common health problem that mostly affects children and infants in Southeast and East Asia. Global climate change is considered to be one of the major risk factors for HFMD. This study aimed to assess the correlation between meteorological factors and HFMD in the Asia-Pacific region. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data and Weipu Database were searched to identify relevant articles published before May 2018. Data were collected and analysed using R software. We searched 2397 articles and identified 51 eligible papers in this study. The present study included eight meteorological factors; mean temperature, mean highest temperature, mean lowest temperature, rainfall, relative humidity and hours of sunshine were positively correlated with HFMD, with correlation coefficients (CORs) of 0.52 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.42–0.60), 0.43 (95% CI 0.23–0.59), 0.43 (95% CI 0.23–0.60), 0.27 (95% CI 0.19–0.35), 0.19 (95% CI 0.02–0.35) and 0.19 (95% CI 0.11–0.27), respectively. There were sufficient data to support a negative correlation between mean pressure and HFMD (COR = −0.51, 95% CI −0.63 to −0.36). There was no notable correlation with wind speed (COR = 0.10, 95% CI −0.03 to 0.23). Our findings suggest that meteorological factors affect the incidence of HFMD to a certain extent.

This study assessed smallholder finances and their attitudes towards the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccination programme, when 1 620 000 vaccine doses were provided for strategic administration in large ruminants in FMD ‘high-risk’ areas in Laos between 2012 and 2016. Farmers (n = 168) in the provinces of Xayyabouli (XYL), Xiengkhoung (XK) and Huaphan (HP), were interviewed. Over 91% of the farmers responded that their livestock were vaccinated for FMD, with over 86% ranking FMD vaccination as a good or very good intervention. No FMD cases were reported from the vaccinated provinces after May 2013. Examination of the total income per household in XYL, XK and HP indicated earnings of US$5060(±650), US$4260(±294) and US$1691(±676), respectively (P = 0.001), with 23%, 28% and 68% of the total incomes from annual sales of large ruminant, respectively. Of the farmers in XYL, XK and HP, 83%, 93% and 70% (P = 0.009) said their annual income increased compared with 2012, and 47%, 64% and 41%, respectively (P = 0.005), indicated this increase was from additional large ruminant sales. The study indicated that this large FMD vaccination programme was well regarded by participating farmers and may have provided satisfactory suppression of the disease in Laos, despite not achieving the preferred vaccination coverage. Continuation of the vaccination programme in FMD high-risk areas is suggested as desirable.

In recent years, hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) has been increasingly recognized as a critical challenge to disease control and prevention in China. Previous studies have found that meteorological factors such as mean temperature and relative humidity were associated with HFMD. However, little is known about whether the diurnal temperature range (DTR) has any impact on HFMD. This study aimed to quantify the impact of DTR on childhood HFMD in 18 cities in Sichuan Province. A distributed lag non-linear model was adopted to explore the temporal lagged association of daily temperature with age-, gender- and pathogen-specific HFMD. A total of 290 123 HFMD cases aged 0–14 years were reported in the 18 cities in Sichuan Province. The DTR–HFMD relationships were non-linear in all subgroups. Children aged 6–14 years and male children were more vulnerable to the temperature changes. Large DTR had the higher risk estimates of HFMD incidence in cases of EV71 infection, while small DTR had the higher risk estimates of HFMD incidence in cases of CV-A16 infection. Our study suggested that DTR played an important role in the transmission of HFMD with non-linear and delayed effects.

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) risk has become an increasing concern in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, which is the biggest urban agglomeration in north-eastern Asia. In the study, spatiotemporal epidemiological features of HFMD were analysed, and a Bayesian space–time hierarchy model was used to detect local spatial relative risk (RR) and to assess the effect of meteorological factors. From 2009 to 2013, there was an obvious seasonal pattern of HFMD risk. The highest risk period was in the summer, with an average monthly incidence of 4·17/103, whereas the index in wintertime was 0·16/103. Meteorological variables influenced temporal changes in HFMD. A 1 °C rise in air temperature was associated with an 11·5% increase in HFMD (corresponding RR 1·122). A 1% rise in relative humidity was related to a 9·51% increase in the number of HFMD cases (corresponding RR 1·100). A 1 hPa increment in air pressure was related to a 0·11% decrease in HFMD (corresponding RR 0·999). A 1 h increase in sunshine was associated with a 0·28% rise in HFMD cases (corresponding RR 1·003). A 1 m/s rise in wind speed was related to a 6·2% increase in HFMD (corresponding RR 1·064). High-risk areas were mainly large cities, such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and their neighbouring areas. These findings can contribute to risk control and implementation of disease-prevention policies.

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is generally a benign febrile exanthematous childhood disease caused by human enteroviruses. The route of transmission is postulated to be faeco-oral in developing areas but attributed more to respiratory droplet in developed areas. Transmission is facilitated by the prolonged environmental survival of these viruses and their greater resistance to biocides. Serious outbreaks with neurological and cardiopulmonary complications caused by human enterovirus 71 (HEV-71) seem to be commoner in the Asian Pacific region than elsewhere in the world. This geographical predilection is unexplained but could be related to the frequency of intra- and inter-typic genetic recombinations of the virus, the host populations' genetic predisposition, environmental hygiene, and standard of healthcare. Vaccine development could be hampered by the general mildness of the illness and rapid genetic evolution of the virus. Antivirals are not readily available; the role of intravenous immunoglobulin in the treatment of serious complications should be investigated. Monitoring of this disease and its epidemiology in the densely populated Asia Pacific epicentre is important for the detection of emerging epidemics due to enteroviruses.