Experimental infection of mice with foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) induces a necrotizing pancreatitis of the exocrinar portion of the organ. The lesions are characterized by vascular congestion, edema and interstitial polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) infiltrates. When infected mice were treated with different amounts of lidocaine (a local anesthetic, chemically defined as a tertiary amide compound), reduction in intensity of the pancreatic necrosis and in the number of PMN were observed. Even though lidocaine could interfere with FMDV post-replicative cytolytic mechanisms, it appears that protection against pancreatic necrosis is by attenuation of PMN presentation in the infected tissue.