This is a mild contagious viral infection that usually affects children younger than five.
Hand foot and mouth disease is most often caused by the coxsackievirus, which is part of a family of enteroviruses (viruses that like to replicate in the gastrointestinal tract). The virus, which is usually passed orally between children, can cause fever, skin rash and mouth sores. There is no treatment for it, but it generally resolves on its own. This disease is often confused with foot-and-mouth disease (also called hoof-and mouth disease), which only affects cattle, sheep, and swine. The virus that affects these animals is different than the virus that affects humans.