BEAVERTON, Ore. — Foot-and-mouth disease is beginning to hurt the footwear makers.

        Nike Inc. this week said rising costs for leather could mean lower profits in the coming months.

        In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nike warned that prices for leather “are rising due in part to European cattle diseases.”

        “If these prices continue to rise, fiscal year 2002 gross margins may be negatively affected,” Nike executives wrote.

        Companies that make anything with leather have been touched by leather price increases of up to 10 percent this year. Much of that increase is caused by the destruction of hundreds of thousands of head of cattle in Europe, in an effort to stop the spread of foot-and-mouth.

        Nike's filing said leather is “a significant raw material” for the company but didn't say how much it uses or how much price hikes could hurt profits. Some Nike clothes and a wide range of Nike's shoes contain leather.

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