Foot-and-mouth disease serotype SAT1 reaches Greece and Cyprus, the first EU cases in the country in 25 years

Summary

[[Foot-and-mouth]] disease serotype SAT1 was confirmed in Cyprus in February 2026 and in Greece in March 2026, marking the first detection of FMD in the EU since Germany in 1988 and the first in Greece in over 25 years. Cyprus notified three outbreaks in Larnaca district on February 21, 2026; the EU Veterinary Emergency Team had already been deployed in December 2025 following early suspected cases, and the European Commission delivered over one million doses of SAT1-specific vaccine to the island. Greece confirmed its first case on the island of Lesbos on March 16, 2026, and by early May, 76 farms had been affected, with more than 4,400 confirmed cases among approximately 30,500 susceptible animals, primarily sheep and goats. SAT1 had been expanding from Sub-Saharan Africa through the Middle East since 2025, passing through Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Lebanon and Israel before reaching EU territory.

The split

Greek and Cypriot agricultural press covered the outbreak through the lens of farmer economic losses, movement restrictions, and the adequacy of the government response, with Cypriot farmers protesting the handling of compensation and culling orders. European veterinary and food safety institutions focused on the unprecedented entry of SAT1 into the EU single market and the implications for intra-EU livestock trade restrictions. UK agricultural media tracked the implications for exports from Northern Ireland and mainland UK to the EU, given the UK's FMD-free status. Middle Eastern and North African agricultural press had already been covering SAT1's westward spread; they framed the EU outbreaks as confirmation of the serotype's geographic expansion trajectory.

By the numbers

• 21 February 2026, date Cyprus officially notified three SAT1 FMD outbreaks
• 16 March 2026, date of Greece's first confirmed SAT1 FMD case (Lesbos)
• 25+ years, gap since Greece last had FMD (prior to 2026)
• 76 farms affected in Greece as of early May 2026
• 4,400+, confirmed FMD cases in Greece's affected farms
• 30,500, susceptible animals on affected Greek farms (majority sheep and goats)
• 1,029,000+, SAT1 vaccine doses delivered to Cyprus by the European Commission

Why it matters

FMD is one of the most economically damaging livestock diseases in the world. The entry of Foot and Mouth SAT1 into the EU is a trade-policy event as much as a disease event: all affected EU regions face automatic suspension of live animal and fresh meat exports to major markets including the UK, Japan, South Korea and the United States. SAT1's arrival in the EU periphery follows a documented westward geographic expansion through the Middle East and signals that the EU's FMD-free status, maintained through costly surveillance and movement controls, can be challenged by novel serotypes for which pre-existing vaccine stockpiles may be inadequate.

What to watch

• Whether SAT1 spreads from Greek island Lesbos to mainland Greece or to other EU member states
• EU Council emergency measures on livestock trade restrictions and vaccination zones
• WOAH and FAO assessment of SAT1's ongoing expansion route through South-East Europe
• Progress on SAT1 vaccine procurement and stockpile strategy across the EU