Egypt foot-and-mouth outbreak threatens Middle East

Rome, 23 Mar – (ANA) - Urgent action is required to control a major outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease and prevent its spread throughout North Africa and the Middle East, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO, has warned.

Official estimates say in Egypt,  40,222 cases of the disease are suspected, and 4,658 animals, mostly calves, have already died. According to FAO’s livestock census data, 6.3 million buffalo and cattle and 7.5 million sheep and goats are at risk in Egypt. Although foot-and-mouth disease has circulated in the country for some years, this is an entirely new introduction of a virus strain known as SAT2, and livestock have no immune protection against it. (ANA)

FA/ANA/23 March 2012-----------