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Published Date: 2012-03-13 10:02:29
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Foot & mouth disease - Egypt (04): st SAT2 & O, update
Archive Number: 20120313.1068568

FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - EGYPT (04): SEROTYPES SAT2 AND O, UPDATE
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In this update:
[1] Kafr El-Sheikh governorate
[2] Beheira governorate

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[1] Kafr El-Sheikh
Date: Mon 12 Mar 2012
Source: Flutrackers [machine trans. summarized, edited]
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showpost.php?p=446353&postcount=7
http://www3.youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=624351&SecID=296&IssueID

In the governorate Kafr El-Sheikh [map at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Egypt_Kafr_el-Sheikh_locator_map.svg], 309 cattle were found infected by FMD, of which 60 reportedly died, while many additional cases of dead animals have not been reported. The disease has spread among cattle to all parts of the governorate.

[Byline: Mohammed Suleiman]

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[2] Beheira governorate
Date: Mon 12 Mar 2012
Source: The Daily News Egypt [edited]
http://thedailynewsegypt.com/health/agriculture-minister-downplays-concerns-about-fmd-outbreak.html

Minister of Agriculture Saad Nassar said Monday [12 Mar 2012] that all precautionary and preventive measures are being taken to control the current outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Egypt.

An outbreak of FMD among cattle in Egypt has been a concern for the past few weeks, with the Ministry of Agriculture preventing the trade or transportation of cattle between governorates.

Over 4900 cases have been reported in Egypt since the outbreak, and until 8 Mar 2012, out of which 255 had died, according to Suheir Hassan, Deputy Minister of Agriculture for preventative medicine.

During Sunday's [11 Mar 2012] PA [People's Assembly] session, MPs called on the need for appropriate compensation to all farmers who are losing their stock to the disease.

"Field Marshal [Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military council] has called me personally and said the compensation is ready. However, the problem is that when we announced that there will be compensation, more farmers have been reporting the disease, with some claiming they have 7 animals when they only have one," the minister told parliament.

Nasssar explained that FMD has been in Egypt for over 200 years and has been contained this whole time but that, like any virus or disease, it has an outbreak period.

"It's not in anyone's hands; the outbreak and spread of the disease is up to fate," he said, responding to allegations that there are cases that were not reported.

Out of 7 serotypes of the virus, the health ministry said the one spreading in Egypt at the moment was O. However, in a later report by the official news agency MENA, officials said they found traces of the SAT-2 strain of the virus, which is not part of the customary vaccine.

"Meat and milk are completely safe," the minister affirmed, adding that FMD poses no risk to humans. "There have been [only]40 cases in 100 years in the whole world."

An independent authority for veterinary services has been formed via a presidential decree in order to deal with the disease, in addition to more than 1500 veterinarians employed in all veterinary units in all governorates around the country.

The PA listed a number of recommendations for the government in order to handle the disease, including banning the transportation of infected animals until treatment, allowing the importing of medicines for treatment, and supervision of all veterinary units.

Officials have been stressing the importance of "safe burial," while also encouraging citizens to immediately report infections in order to provide treatment.

FMD is a severe, highly contagious viral disease that affects livestock with significant economic impact, as it affects cattle and swine as well as sheep, goats, and other cloven-hoofed ruminants, according the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

In Beheira governorate [map at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beheira_Governorate], where, reportedly, the 1st wave of the disease appeared, 237 cases have been reported, according to a Sunday [11 Mar 2012] statement by Mahmoud Fareed, deputy minister for veterinarian affairs in Beheira.

For its part, the Ministry of Health confirmed that there are no human cases of FMD in Egypt.

Last Thursday, a patient who was suspected to have FMD was transferred to the Tanta Fever Hospital. "[The patient] tested negative to FMD; it turned out he has herpes simplex," said Amr Kandil, deputy minister for precautionary medicine.

Kandil explained that once it was reported that the patient may have FMD, a committee from the precautionary medicine unit and from the Health Affairs Administration in Gharbeya went to conduct the necessary tests.

"According to OIE, FMD is not readily transmissible to humans, and the last case found in humans was in 1969," he said.

[Byline: Safaa Abdoun]

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[Flutrackers titled the thread (item 1): "Egypt - Foot & Mouth disease among cattle has spread to Giza, Dakahlia, Minya, Beni Suef, Sharqia, Suez, Gharbia, and Menoufia governorates - to Sheep in Ismailia governorate." According to the above 2 items, the governorates Kafr el Shikh and Beheira, both in Egypt's densely populated Delta region, have been added to the growing list of Egypt's governorates, in Upper Egypt and the Delta, apparently infected with FMD virus.

Item 2 mentions 2 FMDV serotypes currently circulating in Egypt, namely O and SAT2. Most likely, serotype A, recorded in earlier years, is circulating as well. Unfortunately, no notifications have been submitted so far from Egypt to the OIE, in contrast to Egypt's neighbour on the west, Libya, from where an official notification on the identification of FMDV SAT2 was sent and disseminated earlier today [12 Mar 2012].

Libya's "immediate notification" addresses an outbreak in cattle in Sidi Faraj (Abuatni, Bangazi province; see at http://web.oie.int/wahis/public.php?page=event_summary&reportid=11741, with interactive map included). Reportedly, this outbreak started on 12 Feb 2012, and the SAT2 virus was isolated by the Institute for Animal Health, Pirbright Laboratory (OIE's Reference Laboratory) on 8 Mar 2012, identified by ELISA and PCR. The Libyan notification included the following comment regarding the affected population: "A feedlot whose animals come from many sources from local markets. Five animals suddenly died after 3 days of infection. They showed acute respiratory signs. The affected animals are new stock." The number of susceptible animals was 46, within which there was one case and 5 deaths.

The genotyping results of the Libyan SAT2 strain may help in the selection of a relevant vaccine strain; these sequence data are not yet available on Libya's page of the WRL. The full list of the FMDV SAT2 sequence, accumulated throughout the years, is available at http://www.wrlfmd.org/fmdv_seqs/fmdv-sat2_seq.aspx.

Hopefully, samples have also been obtained and sent from Egypt to Pirbright for identification and genotyping.

On 31 Jan 2012, Libya notified the OIE about an FMD outbreak caused by FMDV serotype O which had started on 18 Dec 2011 on the eastern part of the coastal region. According to a follow-up report on 27 Feb 2012, the epizootic has spread to the eastern coastal area, towards Egypt. So far, 23 foci have been reported. See, with map, at http://web.oie.int/wahis/public.php?page=event_summary&reportid=11566. The epidemiological comment said: "Serotypes O and A were identified." - Mod.AS

A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/r/1zkM.]

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