Figure 2

Geographical distribution of seven pools of foot-and mouth disease viruses. Serotype O FMDV is the most widely distributed serotype of the virus (in 6 of the 7 indicated virus pools) whereas, in contrast, SAT3 is only present in pool 6 (within southern Africa). The Asia-1, SAT1 and SAT2 serotypes also have quite limited geographical distribution. However, individual countries can have multiple serotypes in circulation at the same time and hence it is necessary to be able to determine which serotype is responsible for an outbreak if vaccination is to be used. Countries which are normally free of the disease (marked in yellow) can still suffer incursions of the virus which can have high economic costs.