ABSTRACT
The present paper describes the status of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in the eastern region of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, over a three-year period from 1987 to 1989. The disease was prevalent among the various livestock populations in the study area. Type O appeared to be most prevalent followed by types A and Asia 1 which were recorded at lower incidences. Type C was not recorded during the period of study. Two isolates of each serotype were tested for antigenic relatedness to each other and to a reference virus. Both type O isolates were closely related but less related to the reference virus O1 BFS (1860). The type A isolates and the reference virus A22 IRQ 24/64 showed a similar degree of close interrelatedness. In contrast, the two Asia 1 field isolates, while being closely related, showed no antigenic relationship with the reference virus Asia 1 PAK 1/54. The possible implications of these results regarding the current situation of FMD control in the United Arab Emirates and neighbouring countries are discussed.