Cyprus Regains FMD Free Status

March 3, 2008 — 

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has officially recognized Cyprus as free of Foot and Mouth Disease following an outbreak in 2007.

As of February 21, 2008, Cyprus has regained its FMD-free status without vaccination as addressed in a letter from the Delegate of Cyprus to the Director General on 6 Feb 2008. The actual "outbreak" has been questioned due to a lack of clinical signs and negative PCR testing. The diagnosis was confirmed by the national laboratory based on ELISA 3ABC testing and positive virus neutralization conducted at the International Animal Health laboratory at Pirbright, UK. The true cause(s) of the positive serological tests in Cyprus sheep remain(s) speculative; one of the possible explanations is past vaccination of local or introduced sheep.

Source:
ProMED, March 2, 2008