Published Date: 2021-04-22 09:38:29
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Foot & mouth disease - Syria: (LA) goat, spread, RFI
Archive Number: 20210422.8320257
FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - SYRIA: (LATAKIA) GOAT, SPREAD, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
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Date: Wed 21 Apr 2021
Source: Al-Watan [in Arabic, machine trans., abridged, edited]
https://alwatan.sy/archives/255500
The Director of Agriculture in Latakia, Munther Khairbek, confirmed to Al-Watan that there are suspected foci of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) among herds of goats in Ma'areen village. He indicated that the lesions are mild to moderate and the deaths are limited to a number of newborns in a (total village) herd ranging between 500 and 700 heads.
Khairbek added that after receiving several complaints regarding deaths from herds of goats in the aforementioned village, a technical team was assigned that included the assistant director of agriculture, the head of the animal health department, the assistant head of the department of Jableh and the head of the animal health center in Jableh to see the herd and take the necessary measures immediately.
The Director of Agriculture pointed out that according to the discovery, it was found that most of the herds of the village suffer from the presence of suspected foci of FMD, indicating that the herd is jointly grazing the pastures available in the village and most of the cases are accompanied by high temperatures, lameness, lack of appetite, and frothy salivation, and only 2 deaths of neonates were seen.
He stressed that measures were taken by the technical team urgently by vaccinating the entire livestock population in the village and surrounding villages, isolating the affected animals and providing them with the necessary care and drugs, free of charge.
The Director of Agriculture stated that breeders reported that some of the farmers traded livestock by importing them from the local markets and from close neighboring governorates, e.g., Hama Governorate. With the animals originating from unknown sources, their vaccination history is unknown. These animals may have become a source of infection to other animals such as cattle.
The Director of Agriculture stressed that the FMD vaccination operations are carried out periodically.
[Byline: Abeer Samir Mahmoud]
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[Latakia/Lattakiya (Al Ladhiqiyah) Governorate is situated in northwest Syria, bordering Turkey on its north.
According to an additional source (http://www.sana.sy/?p=1363330; ProMED is indebted to the submitter of both media reports), the FMD virus was introduced to the Ma'areen village by means of the transfer of animals between governorates and through livestock dealers who handled animals of unknown source and sometimes smuggled them. The Director of Agriculture in Latakia, Munther Khairbek, called for "guidance to the concerned authorities in the border areas to strictly control the movement of such animals, especially those smuggled between governorates and across international borders, as they pose the greatest danger to our local herds, transmitting many pathogens."
FMD virus is a notorious killer of offspring in ruminants; mortality may exceed 50% of newborn kids and lambs. It is significantly lower in adult animals (usually up to 2%-3%). Fortunately, the kidding season in the Eastern Mediterranean has been practically terminated, the current number of very young offspring being relatively low.
An earlier 2021 report addressing FMD in Syria came from the tri-border area shared by Iraq, Turkey, and Syria, suspectedly circulating also in Iraq ( 20210216.8194894). It will be interesting to note which strain is involved in the current Syrian event. Israel reported since early January 2021 several outbreaks of FMDV-O along its borders with Lebanon and Syria, genotyped O/ME-SA/PanAsia-2.
FMDV genotyped O/ME-SA/PanAsia-2 has been reported since 1 Jan 2021 as affecting Israel's cattle and goat herds pasturing along or kept adjacent to the Lebanese and Syrian borders. This virus strain is probably circulating in wider areas in the region.
Laboratory confirmation and information on the results of serotyping and genotyping of the FMDV in Latakia are requested. - Mod.AS
HealthMap/ProMED map:
Latakia Governorate, Syria: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/27419]
