Published Date: 2018-04-29 17:07:09
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Foot & mouth disease - Israel (03): (HZ) bovine, spread
Archive Number: 20180429.5773006
FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - ISRAEL (03): (HAZAFON) BOVINE, SPREAD
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Date: Sat 28 Apr 2018
Source: Hachaklait Clinical Veterinary Services, head veterinarian's weekly report No 2018/17 [in Hebrew, trans. Mod.AS, summ, edited; subscription required]
http://www.hachaklait.org.il/articles/files/3734123476.pdf
Typical signs of FMD have been observed in dairy cattle in the kibbutz Neve Ur and reported by the 2 attending practitioners of Hachaklait to the State Veterinary Services. Signs of the disease included salivation, buccal and udder lesions affecting 30 adult cows and about 70 calves. The entire herd was last vaccinated against FMD in November 2017.
Samples submitted to the national FMD laboratory, Kimron Veterinary Institute, Beit-Dagan are under examination; final results are expected tomorrow [Sun 29 Apr 2018].
Animal movement restrictions have been implemented.
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[Kibbutz Neve Ur is in the Jordan Valley, adjacent to the Jordan river, which separates Israel from the Kingdom of Jordan (map at https://tinyurl.com/y9qvf6ue).
Earlier in April 2018, FMD was reported in beef cattle owned by Kibbutz Gazit, grazing at Ein Shahal, some 6 km northwest of Neve Ur. The causative agent was identified as FMDV O. Its immediate notification was submitted to the OIE on 9 Apr 2018; see 20180410.5737736. No follow-up reports are yet available.
FMD has been known since 1981 to mainly affect beef cattle (grazing and/or in feedlots), sheep, and goats in Israel (and the Palestinian territories). It has rarely affected dairy cattle farms, mainly due to their husbandry system (housed, zero grazing) and their meticulous preventive vaccinations carried out according to the prescribed policy (annual vaccinations of all age groups, revaccinating within 3 months of animals under the age of 18 months).
Strikingly, the Neve Ur dairy operation is the only dairy farm in Israel (out of a total of about 800 dairy cattle farms) with recurring FMD outbreaks. The previous outbreak was recorded in 1985, while, in 2007, a feedlot in the same farm was infected; both were caused by FMDV O. The quality of information on FMD incidence in Israel's dairy industry is enhanced by the veterinary structure, in which Hachaklait Clinical Veterinary Services play a central role (covering more than 90 percent of Israel's dairy operations; see http://www.hachaklait.org.il/en/articles.asp?catid=214).
Following the 1985 event, which involved several additional farms and herds in the same region in northeastern Israel, as well as wild gazelles, it was hypothesized that the infection could have been windborne, introduced from Jordan and disseminated by the dense wild-boar population on both sides of the Jordan river. This was based upon a simulated computer analysis (Ref 1).
Epidemiological investigations following the 2nd event, in early 2007, supported the said assumption, as indicated in Ref 2. Out of 15 samples collected from wild boars in the region during the outbreak and tested by anti-non-structural proteins ELISA, 13 (86.7 percent) were found positive, compared with only one out of 89 samples (1.1 percent) collected during several years from all other species combined (Fisher's exact test: p = 0.003). The sero-prevalence of FMD in wild boars during 2007 was estimated at 54.2 percent.
The authors concluded: "These findings indicate that wild boar was affected during the 2007 FMD epidemic, even though wild boar presenting FMD typical clinical signs were not observed during that year. The negligible seroprevalence of FMD found for all other surveillance years indicates that ongoing circulation of FMD among wildlife in Israel is unlikely. It is concluded that while the role of wildlife species in the dynamics of FMD in Israel is usually limited, there might be occasions, in which wildlife plays a part in the spread of the virus."
In view of the recurrence of FMD in a single dairy herd characterized by its vicinity to dense wild boar populations and referring to the 2007 findings in the latter as well as earlier investigations addressing wild boar, including experimental infection trials, the role of wild boar in FMD virus dissemination deserves to be further investigated. _Suidae_ are regarded as the most prolific amplifiers of the FMD virus and have long been signified as the origin of airborne spread of the virus for considerable distances. Sampling of sera and other relevant tissues from wild boars in the Jordan valley, and their testing, should shed more light upon the role of wild boar in the epidemiology of FMD in Israel, Jordan and the region at large. It will be interesting to note whether the virus spreads further in domestic animals as well as wildlife, similar to the scenario in 1985, when gazelles were severely affected.
These tests should be combined with genotyping of the circulating FMD virus strains. The 2017 outbreaks in Israel and the Palestinian territories were reportedly caused by FMD virus serotype O, topotype EA-3, most probably introduced from Egypt through the Gaza strip. The current event may be caused by a new introduction. According to recent information (ref. 3), an FMD virus is circulating in West Eurasia (Pakistan, Iran, Turkey) is O/ME-SA/PanAsia-2. This genotype was involved in several outbreaks in Israel during the years 2012-2014.
Jordan reported during 2017 4 outbreaks of FMD serotype O; unfortunately, samples were not submitted to WRLFMD (at Pirbright) for genotyping. It will not be a surprise if the same virus strain which currently circulates on the western side of the Jordan river is detected also on the other, Jordanian side, which is shared by the same wild boar population.
References
1. Donaldson AI, Lee M et al (1988). A possible airborne transmission of foot-and-mouth disease virus from Jordan to Israel - a simulated computer analysis. Isr J Vet Med 44 (2):92-96.
2. Elnekave E, King R, van Maanen K et al. (2016). Seroprevalence of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Susceptible Wildlife in Israel. Front. Vet. Sci.3:32. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2016.00032.
3. FAO's Global FMD Disease Situation report, Jan 2018 (pool 3, p. 15-19) http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/eufmd/FMD_reports_GMR/Jan_GMR_2018.pdf.
- Mod.AS
HealthMap/ProMED-mail map:
Hazafon, Israel: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/1759]
