LSD outbreaks and vaccination in South Eastern Europe

In this map the dots represent the outbreaks of lumpy skin disease, a cattle disease with large economic impact, that in 2012 was spreading in Middle East, affecting Israel, and Lebanon. In 2013 lumpy skin disease expanded to Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Turkey, where in 2014 it spread all over the country. In 2015 lumpy skin disease reached the western part of Turkey and in summer 2015 it entered Eastern Greece. After the winter 2015-2016 the disease reappeared in Spring 2016 and spread over the Balkan region, into Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro. After the disease entered Greece, a regional vaccination campaign based on LSD homologous strain vaccine started in the Balkan region. In this map the different shades of blue represent the percentage of animals vaccinated. By the end of 2017 the number of outbreaks had fallen by 95% and remain concentrated in area with the lowest vaccination coverage. However, the disease had not been eliminated therefore the vaccination program continued. In 2018 no outbreaks have been reported in the Balkan region, showing the high effectiveness of the coordinated regional vaccination campaign. On the other side outbreaks were still reported in Turkey, especially in the eastern part of the country, in Georgia and in Russia, where the disease is moving northwards and eastwards.