SAT1 foot-and-mouth disease in Europe: Türkiye sits at the centre of an expanding regional threat

The 2026 foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in Cyprus and on the Greek island of Lesvos are no longer best understood as isolated European incursions. Viral genotyping places them within a much broader SAT1/III epidemic landscape extending across West Asia, while Türkiye, where SAT1 returned in 2025 after around six decades, has become a major epidemiological and vaccination interface between the Middle East and Europe. Importantly, sequencing demonstrates genetic relationships, but it does not yet prove a direct Türkiye-to-Cyprus-to-Greece transmission route.

SAT1 has undergone an exceptional geographic expansion since 2025. WOAH reports first occurrences in Iraq, Kuwait, Egypt and Azerbaijan in 2025, followed in 2026 by Israel, Cyprus, Palestine, China and Mongolia. Türkiye, Lebanon and Greece reported SAT1 again after roughly 60 years of absence.

Sequencing provides a much clearer picture

There is now genomic evidence for the Cypriot virus. The EU Reference Laboratory identified the virus as FMDV SAT1, topotype III. Its February 2026 genotyping report found it to be closely related to SAT1/III viruses recently detected in Azerbaijan, Iran, Israel, Lebanon and Türkiye.

Greece has also reported the Lesvos virus as SAT1/III. UK animal-health authorities currently describe both Cyprus and Lesvos as involving the same topotype, while investigations continue into whether the two European outbreaks are directly epidemiologically linked.

At least two SAT1 topotypes have recently circulated in the wider region: SAT1/I and SAT1/III. FAO specifically describes their co-circulation as an additional complication to the regional epidemiological picture.

There is also an unusual genomic issue surrounding SAT1/III. The World Reference Laboratory for FMD reported that SAT1/III sequences detected in Iran and Türkiye were distinct from the SAT1/I field viruses and were closely related to BOT/1/77, a strain used as a vaccine master seed. The laboratory stated that this finding required urgent investigation, including whether vaccine virus could have entered the field through a manufacturing incident or incompletely inactivated vaccine. This remains an investigation hypothesis, not a demonstrated origin of the epidemic.

Türkiye is much more than a neighbouring country

Türkiye detected SAT1 again in 2025, its first reported occurrence since 1965. The scale of the Turkish response illustrates why the country matters so much to the regional situation. The Ministry of Agriculture says 23.8 million FMD vaccine doses were deployed during 2025, while first-round cattle vaccination reached 92%.

Vaccination remains an active national policy in 2026. The autumn campaign runs from 14 September to 13 November, and cattle moving between provinces must have received a vaccine containing SAT1 within the preceding six months, with at least 21 days elapsed after vaccination.

Türkiye represents a fundamentally different epidemiological environment from previously FMD-free EU countries: widespread vaccination, very large cattle and small-ruminant populations, intense internal animal movements and proximity to West Asian areas where several FMDV lineages circulate.

FAO reported a marked reduction in Turkish SAT1 outbreaks after the initial 2025 wave, but Türkiye remains part of the SAT1/I–SAT1/III regional system. The country also has recognised FMD-free zones where vaccination is practised, adding another layer to its role as both a potential epidemiological interface and a buffer between infected regions and Europe.

Cyprus: 121 outbreaks and island-wide vaccination

The Republic of Cyprus confirmed FMD in February 2026, resulting in suspension of its WOAH status as an FMD-free country without vaccination from 19 February. The outbreak subsequently became extensive. Current UK veterinary monitoring lists 121 outbreaks involving cattle, sheep, goats and pigs.

The European response also went much further than stamping-out alone. The Commission supplied 1.029 million SAT1 vaccine doses from the EU antigen bank, 500,000 on 13 February and another 529,000 on 28 February.

Vaccination was implemented in Cyprus, and EU legislation adopted on 28 September still defines the whole territory of Cyprus as a vaccination zone. The remaining territory outside current protection and surveillance zones is also maintained as a further restricted zone, while specific Larnaca protection and surveillance zones remain applicable until 31 December 2026.

Cyprus is now managing SAT1 through a combination of vaccination, movement controls, culling, disinfection and progressive farm recovery. The country is already moving into a reconstruction phase. The Cypriot government has established procedures for restocking farms only after premises are demonstrated to be disease-free and compliant with biosecurity requirements.

Greece: Lesvos was still generating new outbreaks in September

Greece confirmed FMD on Lesvos on 15–16 March, losing its WOAH FMD-free-without-vaccination status from 15 March 2026.

The outbreak did not end with the cases described in the July scientific literature. On 21 September, the European Commission explicitly reported that further FMD outbreaks had occurred on Lesvos, requiring another extension and redrawing of protection and surveillance zones. Greek national data also illustrate the scale of control operations. By 21 September, compensation files had been prepared for 143 livestock holdings and 46,124 animals already slaughtered, representing €7.73 million in compensation.

Restricted zones on Lesvos remained formally in place in late September, confirming that the epidemic was still an active animal-health management problem rather than a closed historical event.

Unlike Cyprus, there is no comparable evidence of an island-wide emergency SAT1 vaccination campaign on Lesvos in the official EU material reviewed here. Greece has continued to rely principally on stamping-out, movement restrictions, surveillance, biosecurity and zoning.

Does sequencing prove that Türkiye infected Cyprus and Greece?

No! But three separate statements:

1. SAT1/III has been identified in Türkiye and in the wider West Asian epidemic.

2. The Cypriot SAT1/III virus is genetically closely related to viruses from Türkiye and several other West Asian countries.

3. Lesvos is also affected by SAT1/III.

What has not been demonstrated is the exact transmission chain. The available sequences cannot currently establish whether Cyprus was infected directly from Türkiye, through another country, through animal products or fomites, or by another pathway. Nor do they prove that the Lesvos outbreak originated from Cyprus or directly from Türkiye.

An eastern Mediterranean SAT1 system is emerging

SAT1/III belongs to a much wider West Asian lineage that has now penetrated the eastern Mediterranean. Türkiye sits at the centre of this environment because of its geography, livestock population, movement networks and continuing vaccination effort.

At the same time, the co-circulation of SAT1/I and SAT1/III means that surveillance based solely on serotyping is no longer sufficient. Full genomic characterisation, rapid sequence sharing and epidemiological tracing are essential to distinguish separate introductions from onward regional transmission.

And now? How the different SAT1 lineages are moving through the Türkiye–West Asia–eastern Mediterranean interface, and which routes are responsible for the continuing incursions.