Egypt takes proactive measures against new Foot-and-Mouth disease strain from neighboring countries

CAIRO – 8 December 2025: Egypt continuously carries out preventive measures and vaccination campaigns to address any potential outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in the livestock, said Dr. Al-Husseini Awad, official spokesperson for the Veterinary Medicine Department at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Media Center.

In a phone interview on the “6 O’Clock” program on Al-Hayat TV, Awad confirmed that foot-and-mouth disease is not new to Egypt, but an endemic viral disease that has existed for more than 50 years. 

Awad explained that the Ministry implements three national vaccination campaigns each year, one every four months, to vaccinate livestock against foot-and-mouth disease and Rift Valley fever. He emphasized that these periodic campaigns are part of the state’s strategy to control epidemic diseases and protect livestock.

Awad stressed that foot-and-mouth disease is viral in nature, and that prevention depends primarily on vaccination, similar to how influenza is managed in humans. Vaccination helps prevent the spread of the disease and reduces the severity of symptoms but does not completely eliminate the virus, he noted, underscoring the need to continue adhering to precautionary measures.

The spokesperson revealed that the current heightened measures are due to the emergence of a new viral strain of foot-and-mouth disease, known as “SAT-1,” which has appeared in several neighboring countries, including Libya, Sudan, and some Gulf states, during the past month of May. In response, the Ministry has taken proactive steps by intensifying vaccination campaigns to protect Egypt’s livestock from the new strain.

In the period between last October and November 20, the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation announced that more than 6.5 million vaccine doses have been administered nationwide.