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SHIC monitoring FMD outbreaks in Europe and Middle East

The Swine Health Information Center is monitoring recent outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease in Europe and the Middle East.

SHIC executive director Dr. Megan Niederwerder says there have been three incursions of FMD into European countries that had maintained negative status for many decades.

“Germany, Slovakia, and Hungary, and we’ve been monitoring that very closely. What is the impact? How have they controlled the disease after introduction? What are the risk factors for those incursions?”

Speaking to Brownfield at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, she says there are also outbreaks in Iraq, Kuwait, and Turkey.

“Those countries are endemic for Foot and Mouth Disease virus, but when a new serotype (SAT1) is introduced that’s certainly concerning. Something is changing, something is moving.”

Niederwerder says FMD can survive for long periods and travel long distances aerosol.