Foot and mouth disease in Tunisia

On 12 January 2022, the recurrence of foot and mouth disease virus serotype O in Tunis was notified to the OIE.

The outbreak was reported in a dairy farm that have had contacts with a livestock trader.

The young cattle in the farm shown signs of hypersalivation, oral lesions and a drop in milk production.

In the farm there are 4 sheep and 35 cattle. Cases have been reported only in 8 cattle.

The date of the start of the event was on 4 January 2022 and the National laboratory of Tunis, the Veterinary Research Institute, confirmed the positivity of one cattle by Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) on 5 January 2022.

The affected farm is in located the Chala, Mornag, Ben Arous (Tunis Sud). View map .

At the moment, the source of the infection is unknown and weekly follow up reports will be submitted to the OIE.

The domestic control measures applied are: quarantine, vaccination in response to the outbreak(s), surveillance within containment and/or the protection zone, surveillance outside containment and/or the protection zone, movement control inside the country, disinfection.

The control measures, different from event level, applied are: process to inactivate the pathogenic agent in products or byproducts.

The last mass vaccination campaign of cattle and small ruminants was finalized in August 2021. However, the main measures taken are peri-focal vaccination, reinforcement of biosecurity measures, vaccination booster in organized farms, and start of the mass vaccination campaign.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease that affects domestic and wild artiodactyl animals and causes considerable economic losses related to outbreak management, production losses and trade impacts.

Source:  OIE , ProMed