Nature Middle East | House of Wisdom

Egyptians fear a foot-and-mouth disease epidemic

© Nature Middle East

The quick spread of foot-and-mouth disease across most of Egypt’s governorates has spread fear among farmers and breeders who are losing more cattle everyday. They have complained the government has been dragging its feet in addressing the problem and worry there might be a widespread epidemic of the disease around the corner, similar to one that hit the country in 2006.

Foot-and-mouth is an infectious and often fatal viral disease that easily spreads between farm animals such as cattle, sheep and pigs through aerosols or contaminated farming equipment. The symptoms of the disease in animals includes a high fever, skin rashes and blisters in the mouth and udders of females. It causes a serious decrease in milk production so can have severe economic effects. The virus is rarely transmitted to humans, where it is characterized by a mild fever, headaches and milk mouth inflammations.

So far, official statements put the number of infected cattle at over 24,000 across Egypt, with 2013 having died due to the virus so far since it started to spread on 26 February.

Samy Taha, head of the veterinarians syndicate in Egypt, blamed the widespread infection on imported live cattle from abroad and leeway infection control.

Speaking to a committee from the Egyptian parliament, the agriculture minister blamed farmers and breeders who have not taken their animals in for vaccination regularly.

The currently available vaccines and treatments for the disease have been largely ineffective, which has prompted scientists to expect the virus may have mutated. Samples have been sent to the laboratories of the World Reference Laboratory for Foot and Mouth Disease in London to determine if this is a new strain of the virus.

France has offered to send emergency vaccines to Egypt to control the disease and the Egyptian minister of agriculture has announced that the government has pledged the money needed to either import or locally produced the needed vaccines to control the spread of the disease.

However, controlling the spread of foot-and-mouth disease is not easy and often requires strict monitoring and quarantines and elimination of many infected animals. Farmers and breeders across the rural areas of Egypt are frustrated that little has been done since in the 20 days since the disease began to spread widely, remembering the large economic loss they suffered when it widely spread last in 2006.

 

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    Usman Zafar Paracha said:

    May ALLAH help Egyptians to take control of the disease. Ameen.