Foot and mouth disease has returned to Egypt's cattle, causing farmers to panic In just 10 days, as many as 7,505 cows and buffaloes were infected with foot and mouth disease (FMD) which killed 483 of the animals in many of Lower Egypt's governorates, leading residents there to boycott meat and dairy products, reports Reem Leil a. Among the most infected governorates with the disease are Gharbiya, Menoufiya, Beheira and Daqahliya. Most of the infected cattle are calves. FMD is a virus which infects sheep, pigs, cows and buffaloes. It has been present in Egypt for over 200 years but was contained throughout. The symptoms are high fever in animals which exceeds 38.5 degrees, inflammation of skin surrounding the mouth, and the appearance of pimples all over the animals' face, tongue and hooves, in addition to the udder of female animals. The virus is only contagious among animals with very few cases of infection from animals to humans. The virus is transmitted by air and touch. FMD has several strains: A, O, Sat-1 and Sat-2. According to Osama Selim, head of the General Authority of Veterinary Services (GAVS), the most common strains prevailing in Egypt among its cattle population was the O and A strains. However, "GAVS officials have found traces of Sat-2 strain. This strain is not part of Egypt's regular vaccination plan. That is why the virus is spreading among Egypt's cattle," Selim said. According to Selim, the FMD virus is like any other virus and could mutate. "The Sat-2 strain has never been reported among the country's cattle. Now it is here, so we have to deal with it," Selim added. He said infected cattle are treated by medicine to reduce fever and pimples. The animal survives with medication for three days. "Sometimes animals cannot survive especially when they are young in age like calves, lambs, and piglets," Selim added. GAVS officials believe that the virus entered Egypt via its borders. "This strain of the virus is spread widely among livestock in Libya, Sudan and Israel." Soheir Hassan, deputy minister of agriculture and land reclamation for preventive medicine, says that usually during wars, revolutions or other kinds of instability in countries, supervision and monitoring of the borders weakens, providing a suitable breeding ground for diseases whether among humans or animals. Infected humans also cross porous borders illegally. The Sat-2 strain of the virus, according to Hassan, is considered the most serious infectious disease among animals, and they should be isolated immediately for fear of the disease spreading to other animals because the disease is transmitted in the air. Hassan stressed the importance of safe burial of dead infected animals and the necessity of encouraging farmers to immediately report all authorities concerned if they have any infected animals in order to provide them with proper medical treatment. Since the discovery of the disease in the country during the first week of this month, GAVS has been sending medical convoys to provide help for all infected animals. More than 1,500 veterinarians employed in all veterinary units in all governorates around the country are conducting regular tours among peasants to check on their livestock. "The earlier the disease is discovered and treated the higher the percentage of cure," added Selim. At the same time, Amr Qandil, assistant to the minister of health and population for preventive medicine, said cattle meat and milk were completely safe. "FMD does not pose any health risk among humans. There have been only 40 cases of humans infected with FMD in the past 100 years in the world," said Qandil. The public is being told not to fear the infection by eating the meat or drinking the milk of infected animals because as soon as the animal is slaughtered its body secrets lactic acid which immediately kills the virus. "FMD is very weak and if there is still any traces of it in the meat or milk, it immediately dies when exposed to 56-degree heat. The virus dies even before reaching boiling temperature of 100 degrees. Meat and milk are safe. There is no need to stop consuming them," added Qandil. According to a press release issued by the World Health Organisation for Animal Health, FMD is a severe, highly contagious -- among animals -- viral disease that affects livestock with significant economic impact as it affects cattle and all cloven- hoofed ruminants. FMD is not readily transmissible to humans and the last case found in humans was in 1969. "All humans who were infected with the virus had very mild symptoms like a slight increase in body temperature and skin rashes. They all survived," Qandil said. During Sunday's parliamentary session on 11 March MPs called for the need to compensate farmers who have been losing their stock to the disease. Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Mohamed Reda Ismail said Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), had called him personally to say financial compensation was ready. "However, the problem is that when the ministry announced the compensation scheme, more farmers were reporting the infection of their animals with the disease, with some claiming they had seven animals when they only have one. Others alleged their livestock was infected with FMD though they only had a common cold," Ismail said. A severe strain of FMD first appeared in Egypt in June 2009 in Minya Al-Qamh village in Sharqiya governorate in Lower Egypt where 200 animals were infected. There was another outbreak in February of the same year in Sharqiya's Abu Hammad village in which 1,448 animals were infected. None of the animals died.
