Background: Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is one of the most economically damaging transboundary livestock diseases worldwide, caused by the highly contagious RNA Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) of the Picornaviridae family. A comprehensive understanding of research trends, structure, and emerging directions remains essential.



Objective: To present a complete bibliometric analysis of global foot-and-mouth disease research over a 25-year period (2000–2025).



Methods: This study collected and analyzed FMD-related papers published in Scopus between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2025. Key research indicators were analyzed using bibliometric visualization tools, including Excel, VOSviewer, and Bibliometrix (an R-based).



Results: The number of FMD-related publications has increased gradually in the early 21st century, with a total of 5217 papers as of December 31, 2025. The global research landscape is unevenly distributed, with China a major contributor and the United Kingdom highly central and influential. Donald P. King is the most prolific author, while Nick J. Knowles and James Nick have the highest citation impact. The most cited publication is “Supply chain risk management: outlining an agenda for future research”. FMD research is closely linked to livestock science, vaccinology, and epidemiology, with dominant themes including “cattle,” “vaccine,” “vaccination,” and “epidemiology.” Recent studies have increasingly focused on epidemiology and surveillance, vaccine development, disease control strategies, diagnostic technologies, and pathological manifestation with differential diagnosis. Future research should strengthen collaboration with high-burden low-income countries, extend beyond VP1 to explore other viral proteins, and incorporate wildlife perspectives to better understand disease dynamics and improve control strategies.



Conclusion: This bibliometric study, based on 5217 publications, provides a description of the evolution, important trends, and upcoming frontiers of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) research. It focuses on notable contributions, global research goals, and issues, and can be a useful resource for academics seeking key areas and potential collaborations in this field.