Global situation of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)--a short review

This article reviews the actual world FMD situation. In 2000, fifty nine countries officially reported outbreaks of FMD. The disease occurred in Europe (Greece), Asia (Russia, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, in Caucasian region--Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia as well as in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan), Africa (Egypt, Kenya, Mauritania, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe) and in South America (Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela). In 2001, FMD was still spreading throughout the endemic regions and appeared in some of the west European countries--Great Britain, The Netherlands, France and Ireland. In South America, FMD occurred in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Colombia. In Asia the FMD spread in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iran, Bhutan, Nepal, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan. The FMD situation in Africa was unclear, but probably most countries in West, East and South Africa were affected. The most recent data of the OIE from May 2002 confirmed FMD outbreaks in population of pigs in Republic of Korea.