Published Date: 2018-12-29 17:32:44
Subject: PRO/AH> Foot & mouth disease - Algeria (08): (EB) ovine, suspected, control, vaccination
Archive Number: 20181229.6226208
FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE - ALGERIA (08): (EL BAYADH) OVINE, SUSPECTED, CONTROL, VACCINATION
A ProMED-mail post http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases http://www.isid.org
Date: Fri 28 Dec 2018
Source: Assawt (Algiers) [in Arabic, machine transl., edited]
https://tinyurl.com/ycrb5ymj
The governor of the El Bayadh province has issued a decision to close livestock markets across the country's territory for a month to avoid sheep and goats from contracting foot and mouth disease [FMD], according to the same official. Governor Mohamed Jamal Khanfar told APS that the decision taken Wednesday [26 Dec 2018] evening is a preventive measure to avoid and prevent the spread of the disease among cattle herds.
For his part, the state director of the agricultural interests on behalf of the province, Said al-Hawari, said that the El Bayadh province has 9 livestock markets, of which 3 are large markets in Bougtob, El Bayadh and El Abiodh Sidi Cheikh, and the other 6 are located in Ghassoul, Brezina, El Maharra, Rogassa, Tismouline and Boualem. The spokesperson added that this decision comes after the detection of some cases of sheep suspected as infected with FMD, pending the outcome of veterinary tests.
The Veterinary Services launched today [28 Dec 2018] a vaccination campaign, which will cover 50 000 sheep to be vaccinated by 15 veterinarians.
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[For a map of the Algerian province El Bayadh, including the named locations, please refer to https://tinyurl.com/yam9gavv.
The FMD virus circulating in Algeria since June 2018 has been genotyped by the WRLFMD (Pirbright) as serotype O, topotype EA-3, closely related to isolates from Nigeria (http://www.wrlfmd.org/sites/world/files/WRLFMD-2018-00019-ALG-GTR-O-O_001.pdf).
According to FAO's monthly FMD situation report for November 2018 (published 21 Dec 2018), the above lineage is closely related to lineages isolated in West Africa, including Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania (http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/eufmd/FMD_reports_GMR/November_GMR_2018.pdf).
All 53 outbreaks reported so far involved cattle. The most recent OIE follow-up report (no. 4), submitted 17 Oct 2018, reported 11 new outbreaks. This OIE report was published by ProMED-MENA (Middle East/North Africa) on 18 Oct 2018; see at ProMED post 20181018.6096858. It included the following comment by Mod.AB:
"Nearly 4 months after the inception of the last foot-and-mouth disease epizootic in central Algeria, the latter continues to spread without sparing any breeding area. The new outbreaks, most of which are of small size, have so far only been (clinically) concerned with cattle, although it is not known whether this is an exclusively bovine viral strain or whether the other animal species susceptible to disease are in a benign form or, possibly, are not subject to effective epidemiological surveillance.
"While control actions need to be evaluated clinically and epidemiologically, Algeria's neighboring countries, particularly Morocco and Tunisia, need to double their efforts to prevent the incursion of the disease, and moreover, only a concerted and realistic control program at the level of the sub-region can reduce the impact of this cross-border disease and help Algeria stop its spread."
In other postings this year [2018] and during previous FMD events in the Maghreb, Mod.AB addressed the potential role of small ruminants (sheep and goats) in the epidemiology of FMD in the Maghreb and the need to vaccinate them (e.g., http://www.promedmail.org/post/5973325).
FMD virus O has recently spread to Tunisia (20181226.6223828), affecting cattle AND sheep. According to the current report (above), it is now being suspected in Algeria's sheep population. This has already led to a change in Algeria's vaccination policy, adding sheep.
All postings addressing FMD in Algeria were moderated by AB; the last (20th) posting in the thread was published on 7 Nov 2018 (http://www.promedmail.org/post/6130208); 6 days later, on Tue 13 Nov 2018, Professor Abdelali Benkirane (Mod.AB) died following a long struggle with illness.
Ali's departure is a loss to ProMED and the scientific community. His advice was often sought and immediately obtained; he contributed also to ProMED-mail's general list, where his exemplary comments were reproduced from ProMED-MENA. Filling the gap in the coverage of animal health and zoonotic issues in the Maghreb, Francophone Africa and Anglophone Africa will not be an easy task. - Mod.AS
HealthMap/ProMED-mail maps:
Algeria: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/67
El Bayadh, El Bayadh, Algeria: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/20921]
