Bahrain seizes shipment of 1,740 Somalian cows, sheep for foot-and-mouth disease

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahraini authorities seized a shipment of cows and sheep from Somalia for detecting symptoms of foot-and-mouth disease.

Dr Khaled Ahmed Hassan, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning for Livestock, said the seized shipment contains 196 heads of cows and 1,544 heads of sheep.

The animals were meant for slaughtering, but exhibited symptoms of foot-and-mouth disease, known locally as Potongue, Dr Hassan said.

He added: “This is one of the endemic diseases in the Middle East region, which the Livestock Agency regularly vaccinates against.”

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a severe, highly contagious viral disease of cattle and swine.

It also affects sheep, goats, deer, and other cloven-hooved ruminants.

The disease spreads very quickly if not controlled.

“The discovery of the FMD in the live-stock shipment further stresses the importance of veterinary quarantine in disease prevention,” he added. “This will act as the first line of defence against infectious, communicable and transmissible diseases.”

Dr Khaled Ahmed Hassan said the agency had taken several precautionary measures regarding the shipment.

“We isolated the cows in separate pens and followed protocols according to the Veterinary Quarantine Law of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and guidelines for the unified quarantine procedures for the countries of the Cooperation Council. “This is to ensure that the animals released from the veterinary quarantine do not pose a threat to the health of consumers.”

The undersecretary also called on livestock dealers to “make sure that the animal shipments have undergone all the quarantine measures required by Bahrain so that they do not incur losses.”