Published Date: 2023-03-10 03:47:43 GMT
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Foot & mouth disease - Turkey: livestock, st SAT-2, 1st report, spread
Archive Number: 20230310.8708855
FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - TURKEY: LIVESTOCK, SEROTYPE SAT-2, FIRST REPORT, SPREAD
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Date: Thu 9 Mar 2023
Source: Aksam [in Turkish, machine trans., edited]
https://m.aksam.com.tr/guncel/tarim-bakanligi-sap-hastaligi-tasiyan-ilk-vaka-tespit-edildi/haber-1348986
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has reported that provincial and district livestock markets are closed down until further notice due to foot-and-mouth disease seen in animals throughout Turkey. All animal markets are now closed due to foot and mouth disease [FMD] in various provinces. Intercity animal transport is prohibited. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry announced that all measures, including quarantine, have been taken in 8 enterprises with FMD. After the decision of the Ministry, the producer associations warned their members to implement the decision.
The Turkish Veterinary Medical Association also warned about the risks arising from FMD all over Turkey, especially in the earthquake region.
Turkish Veterinary Medical Association (TVHB) Central Council President Prof. Dr. Murat Arslan pointed out that there are nearly 14 million bovine and ovine animals in the earthquake region and emphasized that vaccination and preventive medicine services against infectious diseases should be continued uninterruptedly.
Arslan requested that containers be provided to the veterinarians whose clinics were destroyed in the earthquake so that the veterinary service would not be disrupted in the region.
He said the supply of vaccines and drugs should also be free for a while.
The following statements were also included in the statement of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry on the subject:
"Due to the developments regarding foot and mouth disease in Iraq, samples from different locations were sent to our Ministry's Foot and Mouth Institute Directorate, within the framework of the Sample Sending and Testing Protocol, under the coordination of the European Union Commission for Combating Foot and Mouth Disease (EuFMD).
Our institute determined that a sample was found to be of serotype SAT-2, which has not been found in our country before. The agent was isolated, and studies were immediately started for the production of a vaccine against this serotype in our country. All stakeholders, as well as our Provincial Directorates, were warned about the issue.
In order to prevent the spread of the disease to our country, our Ministry immediately contacted the relevant institutions and provided necessary information on increasing border surveillance and road control activities.
As a result of meticulous work in the field, the 1st case of FMD serotype SAT-2 was identified. All measures, including cordon-quarantine, have been taken in 8 enterprises that are currently infected. On 8 Mar 2023, the necessary notification was made to the World Organization for Animal Health.
As a result of the studies carried out by our Şap Institute Directorate, a vaccine against the SAT-2 serotype was produced and made ready for use as of 9 Mar 2023.
All measures to prevent the spread of the disease were taken by the National Center for Disease Control, which gathered upon these developments, and all animal movements (in and out of the province) susceptible to FMD were stopped throughout the country during the spring FMD vaccination campaign, except for the dispatches made for slaughter, import and export purposes.
All developments regarding FMDV SAT-2 are closely followed by our Ministry from the 1st moment and all necessary precautions are taken.
Our Ministry, which has completed the production of vaccine against this serotype, which is seen for the 1st time in our country, is rapidly carrying out the necessary studies to vaccinate all of our cattle."
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Communicated by:
ProMED
[FMDV SAT-2 is known to have been circulating in Jordan and Iraq since January 2023. The timeline of the Iraqi event may be of help in the assessment of the chronology and prospects of the evolving event in Turkey.
1. On 14 Jan 2023, the veterinary hospital in Nineveh informed FMD cases in buffaloes and cows in Nineveh Governorate; samples were sent to the central laboratories in Baghdad for serotyping (archive no 20230116.8707801). The specific location(s) of outbreaks were not named. Nineveh governorate borders Syria's governorate of Al-Hasakah and is 4.5 km distant from Turkey's Silopi district of Şırnak Province.
2. On 26 Jan 2023, Iraqi authorities notified the WOAH about FMD in the village Gogjaly, Mosul, Ninawa, which had started on 3 Jan 2023. They stated that pathological samples were sent to Sap Institute/Turkiye and that serotyping was "pending" (archive no 20230128.8708022).
3. On 3 Feb 2023 Iraq submitted its 1st follow-up report, notifying 9 new FMD outbreaks throughout the country, of which 3 (in Kalar, Amedi and Arbil districts) were situated in the Kurdistan region. This report informed that samples from cattle and buffalo, collected in Gogjali, were sequenced at the Pirbright Institute and identified as FMDV SAT-2 on 2 Feb 2023 (archive no 20230204.8708168).
The circulation of the virus in Iraq started, in Mosul and the Kurdistan region, bordering Turkey, the latest in early January 2023. According to Turkey's Agriculture Ministry, early identification of the SAT-2 serotype allowed alerting stakeholders as well as starting, and -- allegedly -- completing the production of a vaccine against this serotype. In view of the virus, probably, already gaining hold of the territory in which it has been circulating for some time, the job on the hands of the Turkish veterinary establishment in controlling it is considerable; the recent FMD event in Indonesia comes to mind.
On 6 Feb 2023, southern Turkey suffered a devastating earthquake. Though it happened more than 400 km (249 mi) west of the FMD-affected region, this catastrophe may have interfered with Turkey's effort to handle the initial spread of the exotic virus, which threatens the region.
Hopefully, Syria, Iran and other regional countries may have alerted their own stakeholders and undertaken adequate preventive measures, including enhanced surveillance. - Mod.AS
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