Overview

• Doctors at urgent care centers across the Philadelphia region report multiple daily cases of painful rashes and mouth ulcers that can last about a week.
• Health departments in Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia say 2025 has seen more facility outbreaks than in recent summers, though Pennsylvania has not logged any outbreak under its three-cases-per-week threshold.
• The CDC does not require clinicians to report hand, foot and mouth disease, leaving national case numbers uncertain.
• Transmission in day care centers, summer camps and recreational water venues occurs via fecal-oral contact and contaminated surfaces.
• Treatment is limited to hydration and pain relief, and medical professionals have yet to identify what is driving this summer’s spike.