EN
In 2006 and early 2007, three major infectious diseases occurred in various parts of the world. The first was the continuation in some countries of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), due to virus subtype H5N1. The second was the first documented expansion of bluetongue (BT) in the northern hemisphere reaching a latitude as high as 52°36’41” N. The third was the reoccurrence of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in certain areas of the world. In 2006 a total of 47 countries: Africa (8), Asia (15) and Europe (24), reported HPAI outbreaks due to H5N1. This paper contains details about the global epidemic situation of this disease. The first occurrence of BT in August 2006 in the Netherlands and afterwards in other Northern European countries was related to climate changes in the direction of the greenhouse effect, enabling the colonization of this region by different Culicoides species being vectors of BT virus. The epizootic situation of this disease, particularly in Northern Europe, was characterized. FMD continued to be a major epizootic disease in the Middle East and was difficult to control because of the traditional large-scale movements of animals in this region. The article also mentions other countries where FMD was diagnosed in 2006 and 2007 such as Turkey, East Amman. Israel, the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, Egypt, Botswana, Guinea, South African Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, People’s Republic of China, Vietnam, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia, and identifies its serotypes.