Vesicular Exanthema of Swine (VES) was a viral disease that affected pigs in America from 1932-1959, causing a similar presentation to that of the notifiable Foot and Mouth Disease and massive economic losses. The disease only ever occurred in the USA, originating from California, and is now eradicated. The pathogens involved were caliciviruses.
Related viruses are now isolated from marine mammal species along the USA’s pacific coast, now dubbed San Miguel Sea Lion Virus (SMSV) and are still capable of causing vesicular disease in swine under experimental conditions.[1]
There was only ever one case of VES in a human and it was acquired during laboratory work, rather than from an infected animal.