Aerosol exposure of cattle to foot-and-mouth disease virus.

Slight modifications of a small, plastic covered greenhouse provided a chamber for the exposure of cattle of all ages to aerosols of foot-and-mouth disease virus. Particle size distributions of aerosols were 76% less than 3 microns, 17% 3-6 microns, and 7% greater than 6 microns immediately after the deVilbis no. 40 nebulizer used was turned off and 90% less than 3 microns, 8% 3-6 microns, and 2% greater than 6 microns 20-30 min later. Pharyngeal virus growth curves and viremia patterns correlated well with the dose of virus to which test cattle were exposed and were similar to those of cattle inoculated intranasally.