1. A survey was conducted of 270 veterinarians from 21 countries neighboring the EU on their knowledge and experience with Bovine Ephemeral Fever (BEF) between 2015-2019. The majority of respondents were official veterinarians. 2. Results showed BEF occurrence was reported in many countries, especially during summer and autumn months. Surveillance and diagnostic capacity for BEF varied between countries. 3. Respondents felt more training was needed on BEF epidemiology, diagnosis and control. Few countries had active surveillance, vaccination programs or classified BEF as a notifiable disease.

1. 1EuFMD | Open Session special edition | #OS20se
Etienne Chevanne1, Abdenacer Bakkouri1, Carsten Pözsch1, Shahin
Baiomy1, Enrico Mezzacapo1, Michel Bellaiche2 and Fabrizio Rosso1
1 The European Commission for the Control of foot-and-mouth disease, The
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
2 Kimron Veterinary Institute, P.O Box 12, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
Bovine Ephemeral Fever in the European
neighbourhood between 2015 and 2019, a
web-based survey among EuFMD trainees

2. 2EuFMD | Open Session special edition | #OS20se
Respondents’
socio-
demographics
BEF occurrence BEF diagnosis BEF surveillance
BEF vaccine
availability and
vaccination
Legislation
applicable to
BEF control
Knowledge and
perception of
BEF, interest in
training
 A transversal web-based survey targets the EuFMD online trainee community from 21 EU neighboring
countries, clustered into four regions representing three main disease corridors to EU: the South East
European Neighborhood (SEEN), the Middle-East (ME), West Africa (WA) and North Africa (NA).
 Designed on SurveyMonkey platform, in French and English, disseminated in January 2020.
 35 questions, 7 sections
 Disseminated in French and English in January 2020.
 EuFMD guaranteed the confidentially and anonymity of the survey
 Answers cannot be considered as official replies from the respondents’ institution or country.
Methodology

3. 3EuFMD | Open Session special edition | #OS20se
Results 1
 270 answers (response rate: 17%)
 Official vets (44%) > Laboratory
vets (16%) > Private vets (15%)
Figure: Number of respondents and response rate to the
survey by region.
19
23
41
21
26
0
11
24
12
14
13
15
19
19
18
6
9
22
13
14
25
23
11
15
17
63
64
52
61
60
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
WA
NA
ME
SEEN
All valid responses
% Outbreak (epidemiological) investigation on BEF suspicious cases, including sample
collection
% BEF sample testing at the laboratory
% BEF outbreak management operations
% BEF risk assessment
% BEF training workshop
% Never been involved in such activities for BEF
Figure: Respondents' previous experience with BEF by region (expressed in %
among valid responses).

4. 4EuFMD | Open Session special edition | #OS20se
Results 2
Figure: Reported occurrence of BEF infections at country and administrative unit1
levels between 2015 and 2019.
Figure: Reported likely periods of BEF infection between 2015
and 2019 by region.

5. 5EuFMD | Open Session special edition | #OS20se
Results 3
BEF was estimated to have a medium economic impact at farm-level
Attention given to BEF was not sufficient in their services – poor knowledge on BEF epidemiology,
diagnosis and control - low level of awareness on BEF
Topic Answer
At least one of the three diagnostic assays for BEF 11 countries
Passive surveillance activities 8 countries
Active surveillance activities 7 countries
Culicoides surveillance activities 4 countries
BEF vaccine used 7 countries
BEF a notifiable disease 7 countries

6. 6EuFMD | Open Session special edition | #OS20se
Recommendations
 A training scheme on vector-borne FAST diseases (Rift Valley Fever, Lumpy Skin disease and BEF), focused
on entomological surveillance and integrated risk-based surveillance
 Cross-sectional serological surveys to demonstrate the presence and estimate BEF occurrence.
 Research studies to identify suitable areas for competent vectors and abundance in different seasons and
to improve knowledge on BEF spread patterns
 Economic studies to better understand the true impact of BEF per production sector and better inform
decision and policy-makers on cost-benefit of vaccination and other control and surveillance measures
 Laboratory and epidemiology regional networks to facilitate the sharing of information on BEF diagnostic
and surveillance capacities. Countries should consider to make BEF a notifiable disease.
 The availability of vaccines and vaccination schemes should be well understood and shared between
countries
 To have more information, please review the final report of the survey in English and French.

7. eufmdvirtual.com
8, 10, 15, 17 December 2020
EuFMD / Open Session