Foot-and-mouth disease SAT-1 re-emerges, sparking international alarm and urgent containment efforts

The re-emergence of the SAT-1 strain of foot-and-mouth disease across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia has prompted urgent containment measures, raising concerns over its rapid spread and economic impact on livestock industries worldwide.

The re-emergence of foot-and-mouth disease serotype SAT-1 has put animal-health authorities on alert, after the strain was reported again across parts of Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including places where it had not previously been detected. The Food and Agriculture Organization said in a rapid risk assessment in March 2026 that the spread of SAT-1 warranted urgent containment measures across affected regions.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a fast-moving viral infection of cloven-hoofed livestock, including cattle, buffalo, pigs, sheep and goats. It spreads through direct and indirect contact, including contaminated vehicles, equipment, footwear and animal products. The disease is painful, causes fever, blisters and sores, and can sharply reduce milk output, growth rates, fertility and draft power. Human risk is not the main issue; the economic damage to farming and trade is.

The World Organisation for Animal Health warned in April that SAT-1 now poses a broader international threat than its historic southern African footprint suggests. Cyprus has already reported outbreaks this year, and the European Commission has delivered hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses there to support control efforts.

India’s National Animal Disease Control Programme, launched in 2019, remains the key policy response, combining mass vaccination, vaccine supply, cold-chain support and awareness drives to build herd immunity and curb both FMD and brucellosis.