Published Date: 2024-04-06 00:16:34 BST
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Foot & mouth disease, peste des petits ruminants - Pakistan: (KP) spread
Archive Number: 20240405.8715807
FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE, PESTE DES PETITS RUMINANTS - PAKISTAN: (KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA) SPREAD
A ProMED-mail post http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases http://www.isid.org
Date: Tue 2 Apr 2024
The Nation [edited]
https://www.nation.com.pk/02-Apr-2024/animals-diseases-rapidly-spreading-in-s-waziristan
The animal diseases Kata [peste des petits ruminants (PPR)] and foot and mouth disease (FMD) are spreading in South Waziristan very rapidly.
Hundreds of animals have died so far in South Waziristan, officials from the local veterinary Wana confirmed to the media persons. According to local sources, about 150 animals including cows, sheep and goats died in tehsil Bir¬mal, tehsil Shakai, tehsil Wana and tehsil Toi khulla ["In Pakistan, tehsils are the second administrative division"].
"Viral diseases, FMD and PPR can be controlled, but, owing to shortage of medicines [probably shortage of vaccines] in veterinary hospitals, we cannot control animals' deaths in Lower Waziristan," a local veterinary doctor, on condition not to be quoted, told the media persons. He said FMD usually does not cause mortality, but can cause economic loss due to weight loss, reduced milk production and restricted movement of animals.
According to the Livestock Department of South Waziristan, PPR is a viral disease that means it is transmitted from one animal to another.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED
via
ProMED-SoAs
["Waziristan is a mountainous region covering the North Waziristan and South Waziristan districts of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waziristan).
As indicated in the news report above, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in cattle and peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in small ruminants (goats and sheep) are spreading in South Waziristan of Pakistan.
"Foot-and-mouth disease is one of the world's most economically important viral diseases of livestock. The virus infects cattle, pigs, and sheep and many cloven-hoofed wildlife species. The infection results in vesicular lesions in and around the mouth and on the feet, resulting in the reluctance of an animal to eat or move" (https://www.msdvetmanual.com/generalized-conditions/foot-and-mouth-disease/foot-and-mouth-disease-in-animals).
The causative agent is an Aphthovirus, a member of the family Picornaviridae which has antigenically 7 distinct serotypes termed: A, O, C, Asia 1, and SAT (Southern African Territories) 1, 2, and 3. In a South Asian country like Pakistan where FMD is endemic, at risk cattle populations should be vaccinated twice a year, 6 months apart between the doses, with a killed vaccine antigenically matching the serotype(s) of the virus circulating in the country.
"Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute or subacute viral disease of goats and sheep characterized by fever, necrotic stomatitis, gastroenteritis, pneumonia, and sometimes death.
"The causative virus of PPR, a member of the Morbillivirus genus in the family Paramyxoviridae, preferentially replicates in lymphoid tissues and in epithelial tissue of the GI and respiratory tracts, where it produces characteristic lesions.
"There is no specific treatment for PPR; however, treatment for bacterial and parasitic complications decreases mortality rates in affected flocks or herds. A live, attenuated PPR vaccine prepared in Vero cell culture affords protection from natural disease for > 1 year. Encouraged by the successful global eradication of rinderpest, international organizations such as WOAH and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are actively pursuing global eradication of PPR by 2030. The available homologous PPR vaccine is playing an important role in that effort" (https://www.msdvetmanual.com/generalized-conditions/peste-des-petits-ruminants/peste-des-petits-ruminants). - Mod.PKB
ProMED map:
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan: https://promedmail.org/promed-post?place=8715807,875]