On 13 February, the European Commission sent 500,000 doses of foot and mouth disease (FMD) serotype SAT1 vaccine to the Republic of Cyprus to support vaccination activities in the Turkish-occupied areas of the island. This is the first delivery of FMD vaccines organised by the European Commission since the beginning of the year, as part of its continuous monitoring of the outbreak of FMD in the village of Lapathos in December.
The vaccines were mobilised from the EU vaccine bank. They serve as emergency assistance to strengthen immunity in susceptible livestock populations and to reduce the risk of further transmission. According to the Commission’s EU veterinary fact finding mission in December, the origin of the virus introduction is unkown, but it is suspected that the SAT1 virus was introduced from Türkiye.
(photo ©European Commission)