The biennial scientific congress of the GFRA (Global Foot-and-Mouth Disease Research Alliance) was held in Istanbul, Türkiye, from October 21st to 23rd

The European Union Reference Laboratory (EURL) for Foot-and-Mouth Disease held its 7th annual workshop in Antwerp, Belgium, on September 30th and October 1st 2025.

The 13th International Congress of the ESVV took place in Portorož, Slovenia, from September 2nd to 5th 2025.

An outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth Disease has been reported in Slovakia in domestic cattle for the first time in 50 years. Cases have been detected in three farms located in the southern part of the country. This is the third case in the EU in 2025 after the outbreaks in Germany in January and in Hungary in March. Restriction zones have been set up around the farms. The identification of the serotype is pending. For more information: Slovakia records first foot-and-mouth cases, minister...

An outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth Disease has been reported in Hungary in domestic cattle. The outbreak is located in the North-west of the country in the administrative zone of Győr-Moson-Sopron. This is the second case in the EU in 2025 after the outbreak in Germany in January. Restriction zones have been set up around the outbreak and animals have been slaughtered. Following sequencing, the strain responsible for the infection was identified : O/ME-SA/PanAsia2/ANT10. For more information:...

This real-time RT-PCR is a molecular tool for detection of Foot-and-mouth disease virus lineage O/ME-SA/SA-2018, as it is an emerging lineage in South Asia since 2018. The assay has been tested on 34 FMDV positive samples (including 12 SA-2018 samples) with a specificity of 91,7% (11/12 SA-2018 samples detected). The primers and probes are indicated hereafter:  Oligo name (final concentration) Sequence (5’-3’) Use...

An outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth Disease has been reported in Germany in water buffaloes. The outbreak is located in the Brandenburg region, close to Berlin (first reports of this disease in Germany since 1988). This is the first case in the EU since 2011 in Bulgaria. According to the regional authorities, three water buffaloes are confirmed as infected. Restriction zones have been set up around the outbreak. The identification of the serotype is pending. For more information: https://wahis....

As part of its WOAH and FAO mandates, the EURL for FMD took part in the Regional Advisory Group (RAG) meeting dedicated to Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR). The meeting, organized by WOAH and FAO, took place from July 2 to 4, 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Several delegations took part in the meeting (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Russia), as did WOAH and FAO officials associated with the region, and the European Commission for the...

On June 11, 2024, the EURL for FMD organized a webinar with EuFMD on the Emergency diagnosis: interpretation of FMD tests results. Fifteen participants from 15 different countries we invited fr this 4 hours webinar. Labib Bakkali Kassimi (EURL Director) presented the EURL activities and the FMD emergency diagnosis. Then, Aurore Romey and Guillaume Girault presented three different simulation exercises: the first one was dedicated to WOAH type laboratory (live virus) and with the presentation of...