BRUSSELES, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) would send a total of 1.1 million doses of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine to Algeria and Tunisia as an emergency response following the spread of a new strain of the virus, said the European Commission on Friday.
The vaccine was formulated from the antigen stocks stored in the EU antigen bank. The shipment was due to be delivered within the next two weeks, and the vaccines would be used to immunize cattle, sheep and goats.
This was under the request from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) due to the lack of available options to obtain vaccines from other sources.
The EU bans imports of live susceptible animals from Algeria and Tunisia or any of their products, said the European Commission. Persons traveling from those countries to the EU are prohibited from bringing any meat and milk products as they may harbor the virus.
