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The FMD status of any particular country or region can be defined as endemic, epidemic
(sporadic), or free. FMD-free regions can be defined by national borders (e.g., Australia,
Indonesia), by supranational borders (e.g., Europe, North America) or by disease-free zones
within non-free areas which are maintained by movement control (e.g., Zimbabwe). Sporadic
regions are characterised by repeated incursions of FMD viruses into regions where disease
does not usually occur. The disease is either eliminated through a control programme or
disappears naturally without intervention until the next introduction months or years later.
Some areas of the world are historically free of FMD, Australasia being a prime example.
Other regions have eradicated FMD, often following mass annual prophylactic vaccination
campaigns and through the stringent application of zoosanitary measures following outbreaks.
Continental Europe falls mostly into this latter category. Some countries, such as the
United Kingdom, have eradicated FMD without resort to vaccination. However, FMD is
epizootic in several areas of the world and endemic in much of the developing world,
including Africa, Asia, much of South America, and the Middle and Far East. This situation
exists despite continued efforts to control the disease and the extensive use of FMD
vaccine throughout the affected areas of the world.
The basis of any policy to control FMD is to limit access of the virus to FMD-susceptible
animals. The methods of control depend upon the prevalence of the disease in particular
regions/states, geographical considerations, and the desire to eradicate or simply control.
In some instances where FMD-free regions are geographically adjacent to areas with sporadic
or endemic FMD, buffer zones or strategic vaccination zones have been established. One such
example is the EC/FAO-funded vaccination zone in Anatolia, Turkey, which separates Asian
Turkey, which has endemic FMD, from European Turkey and the rest of Europe. In this
vaccination zone mass annual vaccination is practised against FMDV serotypes O and A, and
movement of livestock across the zone into Thrace is prevented. Similarly, in countries
ostensibly free of FMD, annual vaccination along borders with endemic regions and a further
zone of sentinel animals with restricted movement can be employed. Several southern African
countries exercise this form of control around game areas containing FMD-infected animals.
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