The Commission updates emergency restriction and vaccination zones in both countries, following 24 new sheep and goat pox outbreaks across Greece and fresh lumpy skin disease cases in Aragón.
April 15th, 2026 – The Commission published two Implementing Decisions on April 15th updating active animal disease emergency frameworks in Greece and Spain. Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/838 amends Greece’s sheep and goat pox restricted zones, while Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/852 expands Spain’s lumpy skin disease vaccination perimeter, indicating an expansion of the outbreaks. Both apply with immediate effect.
Greece has had a sheep and goat pox emergency framework in place since 2024. Between 4 and 30 March 2026, Greek authorities notified 24 new outbreaks across 13 regional units, including Thessaloniki, Larissa, Kavala, Serres, and Ithaca. Decision 2026/838 updates the protection, surveillance, and additional restricted zones in the annex of the original 2024 decision to reflect this spread, recalibrating zone boundaries and measure durations in line with EU animal health law and WOAH international standards.
On the Spanish side, two new lumpy skin disease outbreaks were confirmed in Huesca, Aragón, on 2 and 3 March 2026. Lumpy skin disease spreads through biting insects, making vaccination, rather than movement restrictions alone, the primary containment tool. Spain submitted an updated vaccination plan on 30 March, and Decision 2026/852 enacts it by expanding Vaccination Zone I to cover all of Huesca, parts of Zaragoza, and remaining areas of Lleida and Navarra not yet included. This is the latest update to a framework extended on southern France earlier this year.
Both decisions amend existing frameworks rather than creating new ones, and address Greece and Spain exclusively. The breadth of Greece’s active outbreak and the northward creep of lumpy skin disease in Spain are worth monitoring, as both diseases have a track record of cross-border spread when containment lags.
