Published Date: 2022-04-30 00:13:47 BST
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Foot & mouth disease - Israel (05): cattle, pig, st O, spread, RFI
Archive Number: 20220429.8702934
FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - ISRAEL (05): CATTLE, PIG, SEROTYPE O, SPREAD, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
A ProMED-mail post http://www.promedmail.org
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Date: Thu 28 Apr 2022
Source: Israel Cattle Breeders Association (ICBA): FMD notifications of the Veterinary Services [in Hebrew, trans. Mod.AS, abridged, edited]
https://tinyurl.com/yyadjve7
[The following 9 new, clinically suspected FMD outbreaks, have been recently reported by Israel's VSAH (Veterinary Services & Animal Health), adding to 34 earlier outbreaks. The holdings have been put under the prevailing legal restrictions and other measures. - Mod.AS]
No. / Date / Location / District / Species
35/ 24 Apr 2022 / Kibbutz Regavim/ HA* / bov
36/ 25 Apr 2022 / Neve Yaar / HZ* / bov
37/ 25 Apr 2022 / Iblin / HZ / porcine
38/ 25 Apr 2022 / Kibbutz Yizreel / HZ / bov
39/ 25 Apr 2022 / Zaid, Beit Zaid / HA / bov
40/ 25 Apr 2022 / Kibbutz Ein Hashofet / HZ / bov
41/ 25 Apr 2022 / Kibbutz Shaar-Haamakim / HA / bov
42/ 26 Apr 2022 / Quarantine Station, Mechola / J&S (WB)* / bov
43/ 28 Apr 2022 / Moshav Moledet / HZ / bov
Legend:
HA = Haifa (Haifa district)
HZ = HaZafon (northern district)
J&S = Judea and Samaria, within the West Bank
WB = West Bank
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Communicated by:
ProMED
[One of the new outbreaks, in Iblin (Western Galilee), involved domestic swine and was detected as infected upon arrival in a slaughterhouse. This is reminiscent of the initial diagnosis of FMD during the major epizootic in the UK, February 2001 (20010220.0325).
FMD continues its spread in Israel, mainly in the northern (HaZafon) district, since its introduction from the West Bank in early February 2022 (see commentary in 20220421.8702742). The event has now become Israel's largest FMD epizootic since 1981. Of the total of 43 outbreaks reported so far, 32 were located in the northern (HZ) district, 4 in Haifa (HA), 3 each in J&S and HM, and one in the southern district (HD). For Israel district map, see https://tinyurl.com/2vahpd6m.
Seven isolates, 6 from bovines and 1 from sheep, sequences of which submitted to WRLFMD (Pirbright lab), have been genotyped there as FMDV O, topotype ME-SA, lineage PanAsia 2, sublineage ANT-10. The samples were derived from outbreaks number 1, 2, 8, 12, 14, 15 and 17 in the table included in 20220421.8702742. The Pirbright lab report, dated 17 Mar 2022, includes, for each sample, tables presenting the most closely related sequences and the most closely related prototypes. The dates of collection were between 3 Feb-13 Mar 2022. The Israeli strain was found identical to the genotyped strains from Jordan (dates of collection, 3 Nov-13 Dec 2021) and from the Palestinian authority (date of collection, 12 Dec 2021). The report, which includes also a dendrogram (Phylogenetic tree) and listed details of the sequences included therein, is available at https://www.wrlfmd.org/sites/world/files/quick_media/WRLMEG-2022-00010-ISR-GTR-O-O_001.pdf.
Notably, in the Gaza district of the PA, a different FMDV-O strain was recorded in December 2021, namely topotype EA-3. It would be interesting to note if samples from the (single) FMD outbreak reported so far in Israel's adjacent southern (HD) district, in the Bedouin township of Rahat, have been tested to exclude the possibility of FMDV O topotype EA-3 circulating currently in Israel.
According to a professional source who preferred anonymity, one of the obstacles to obtaining full vaccination coverage is a requirement for livestock owners to pay for the vaccination, in a post office, weeks ahead of the vaccination date. The said source indicated that this is of particular effect on Bedouin farms and households. This information remains to be confirmed.
The outbreak reported from a (privately managed) quarantine station in Mechola, zone C of the West Bank, is of particular concern, since imported animals, allowed only from FMD-free, non-vaccinating countries, obtain their primary vaccination only after arrival. - Mod.AS
ProMED map:
Israel: https://promedmail.org/promed-post?place=8702934,90]