As part of its WOAH and FAO mandates, the EURL for FMD took part in the Regional Advisory Group (RAG) meeting dedicated to Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR). The meeting, organized by WOAH and FAO, took place from July 2 to 4, 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Several delegations took part in the meeting (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Russia), as did WOAH and FAO officials associated with the region, and the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (EuFMD). The EURL was represented by Guillaume Girault, project leader in the Biopic team, who presented recent foot and mouth disease events and outbreaks observed around the world, with a particular focus on outbreaks detected in Western Eurasia in recent years. Numerous exchanges took place concerning the two diseases covered by this meeting. A field simulation exercise was also carried out by the Azeri veterinary services, with the deployment of mobile laboratories, surveillance of wildlife using drones, and the setting up of a crisis unit. The participation of the Foot and Mouth Disease EURL at this meeting enabled contacts to be established with several colleagues from other countries, opening the door to potential future collaborations.

On June 11, 2024, the EURL for FMD organized a webinar with EuFMD on the Emergency diagnosis: interpretation of FMD tests results. Fifteen participants from 15 different countries we invited fr this 4 hours webinar. Labib Bakkali Kassimi (EURL Director) presented the EURL activities and the FMD emergency diagnosis. Then, Aurore Romey and Guillaume Girault presented three different simulation exercises: the first one was dedicated to WOAH type laboratory (live virus) and with the presentation of almost all available methods to detect and characterize FMDV. The Mentimeter tool was used to ask questions to participants and analyze the answers in real time. Then, the second scenario was similar to the first one, again with the mentimeter tool for questions, but without so much help from EURL for the answers. Finally, the third scenario was dedicated to serological analyses. This webinar was highly appreciated by participants and will may be scheduled again in the future.

On Monday May 27, 2024, the Animal Health Laboratory and the JRU Virology/ BIOPIC team (NRL and RL OMSA-FAO-UE for Foot and Mouth Disease) welcomed an official delegation from Poland's PIWet National Veterinary Institute. The delegation, comprising Professors Stanislaw Winiarczyk (Director General), Miroslaw Polak (Deputy Director for Research) and Jacek Kuzmak (Retired since January 1, previously Deputy Director for Research), was received by Stephan Zientara (AHL Director) and part of the BIOPIC team, represented by Labib Bakkali Kassimi (Team Leader), Sandra Blaise-Boisseau (Deputy Team Leader) and Guillaume Girault (Project Leader). The LSAn's activities and those of the FMD theme were presented, as well as the operation of the ICube laboratory, dedicated to the handling and analysis of the FMD virus. Numerous fruitful exchanges followed, notably on the constitution and operation of the confined laboratory, but also on the overall operation of the FMD team and the national laboratory network. Professor Stanislaw Winiarczyk thanked Anses for their warm welcome and expressed his great satisfaction at the visit, which he hoped would serve as a basis for future collaboration between the two institutes.

As part of the EURL for FMD work program, the BIOPIC team welcomed four trainees for a two-week training session (March 11 to 22, 2024) in the emergency diagnosis of FMD (reception of samples, viral isolation, serological analyses, detection of the viral genome, typing and sequencing of the genome and analysis of results). The course was led by Aurore Romey and Guillaume Girault. The trainees came from Austria, Croatia, Greece and Slovakia. The course enabled them to deepen their knowledge of diagnostic methods and to discover methods not yet deployed in their laboratories. The many constructive exchanges will enable trainees to implement the methods presented to better combat this disease.