Foot and mouth disease generates mayhem on the country's livestock business, reports Reem Leila According to a report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation issued on 17 March, the rate of infection of foot and mouth disease (FMD) among Egypt's cattle decreased from 5,000 to 1,000 heads per day. The rate of death among livestock also shrunk from 600 per day to 305. However, as authorities concerned try to contain the virus, several cattle markets closed down throughout the country especially in the most infected governorates such as Assiut. Since the disease broke out in the country at the beginning of March more than 24,500 livestock out of Egypt's eight million cattle population have been infected. Osama Selim, head of the General Authority of Veterinary Service (GAVS), said that due to the fact that the Sat-2 strain had never infected any of the country's livestock before, this led to the lack of availability of appropriate vaccines for the strain. "Egypt's livestock are regularly vaccinated against the common strains of FMD (A and O strains) every four months. In a matter of a few days the proper vaccine will arrive in the country. Until then, there is no real threat to the country's cattle population because old-age animals easily survive the disease without treatment," Selim said. Due to the fact that the disease is easily transmitted among animals via air for long distances, the exact reason for the spread of the virus among Egypt's livestock is unknown. According to Selim, it is possible the virus could have reached Egypt through neighbouring countries, especially since the virus spread among Libya's cattle population in February. "Infected livestock inside the country are themselves another reason for the spread of the disease. The death rate among old animals ranges from 1-5 per cent, whereas among young animals the percentage jumps to 90-97 per cent," stated Selim. At the same time, GAVS, along with officials of the Ministry of Agricultural and Land Reclamation took samples from infected animals to be examined in Egypt's laboratories. Local labs confirmed that Egypt's cattle are infected with the Sat-2 strain. Further samples have been sent to laboratories belonging to the Institute of Animal Health (IAH) in London, considered the world's reference lab for FMD. "Results of samples will come out in the next few days. The vaccine will be imported after one week maximum after the results are known." Selim said the virus has no particular treatment. Veterinarians provide infected animals with medical treatment to reduce fever and treat the skin blisters which spread all over the animals' face, inside its mouth and hooves, leading to lameness. "For the time being and until the vaccine reaches Egypt all we can do is treat the symptoms of the virus and not the virus itself. Recovery period of the virus ranges from between 10-15 days depending on the strength, immunity system and age of the animal," Selim added. According to Soheir Abdel-Qader, head of the GAVS Department for Preventive Medicine, Gharbiya governorate had the highest rate of infections and deaths -- 10,371 suspected cases and 850 fatalities. Alexandria has 1,668 infections with 70 deaths; Giza is suffering from 1,035 infected cases and 41 deaths; Qalioubiya governorate has 980 infected cases and 52 deaths; Daqahliya governorate witnessed 2,436 sick animals and 95 fatalities; in addition to 1,419 infected animal cases and 86 deaths in Beheira governorate. Meat consumers are being asked not to panic because the meat and milk are reportedly safe. "Stockbreeders should not violate the set rules to prevent the spread of the virus and help in the recovery of already infected livestock by reporting infected animals. Many do not report the problem as they do not believe the government will compensate them," Abdel-Qader said. FMD was widely discussed during a parliamentary session on 17 March. Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Mohamed Reda Ismail declared that all infected animals are being treated for free. Medical convoys sent by GAVS led to an increased rate of infection. "Farmers were forced to take their infected animals to the GAVS's medical convoy to treat their animals but this was wrong," said the minister. Accordingly, the ministry took precautionary measures to limit the spread of the virus by banning the trade or transportation of livestock among the country's governorates. "The virus can be transmitted by wind from infected animals as far as 120km," said Ismail. As animals can be easily infected directly or indirectly, during treatment infected animals are isolated from those which are healthy. "Healthy animals are being locked up in stables in order to reduce the rate of infection," added Ismail. During the parliamentary session Ismail announced that the money needed to import the vaccine is ready. "We are just waiting for IAH lab results to come out after which the ministry will immediately import the vaccine," said Ismail. The government will compensate farmers whose animals died from the disease. But, according to the minister, the government has to be "very cautious because until now the ministry received more than 50,000 false reports of dead animals. The numbers are not yet verified. At the same time compensation will vary according to the animal's age," Ismail said. In order to avoid similar problems in the future, Egypt's government labs have begun experiments to produce a local vaccine for the virus. "It will take up to a year to produce a vaccine, so we will import it from London for the time being. At the same time the government has taken all the required measures to prevent smuggling of animals through the country's borders," Ismail added.
