Published Date: 2022-12-27 11:17:34 GMT
Subject: PRO/AH> Foot & mouth disease - Comoros: (GC) cattle, goat, st pending
Archive Number: 20221227.8707478
FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - COMOROS: (GRANDE COMORE) CATTLE, GOAT, SEROTYPE PENDING
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: Tue 20 Dec 2022
Source: Al-Fajr Quotidien [in French, trans., abridged, edited]
https://www.al-fajrquotidien.com/sante-la-fievre-aphteuse-signalee-a-ngazidja/
Foot and mouth disease [FMD] has been identified in Ngazidja. The information was delivered on Saturday [17 Dec 2022] afternoon by INRAPE [National Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and the Environment, Comoros] and the breeding department. Already identified before in Mwali, the disease comes to us this time from Tanzania and Kenya aboard a boat which transported animals (oxen and goats) and entered last Wednesday to Thursday [14-15 Dec 2022]. INRAPE calls for compliance with the measures introduced pending the identification of the strain of the disease, which will make it possible to introduce the appropriate vaccine.
The director general of INRAPE and the director general of livestock, respectively Hamza Abdou Azali and Charafoudine Anzade, invited the press on Saturday [17 Dec 2022] to announce the identification of FMD in Ngazidja. For the Comoros, this is, of course, of interest to the community of cattle, goat, and sheep breeders. INRAPE calls on them to be cautious and to respect the [announced] measures.
"[Identifying] the strain of the disease [virus] will allow the introduction of the equivalent vaccine," said Dr Anzade, specifying that there are 7 strains for this virus. In any case, for the moment, INRAPE prohibits the movement of breeders and animals from one environment to another, from one village to another, and from one island to another.
"Farmers can be vectors of transmission of the disease. Secretions from the affected animal, feces, clothing, or shoes that have been in contact with the affected animal can promote the spread of the disease. Thus, for the moment, the [distribution] of milk and meat from cattle, goats, and sheep is prohibited. Hamza Abdou Azali added that the disease has already raged in Mwali in the previous years, but all the measures have been taken and respected, and the disease was overcome. "In any case, the disease is not zoonotic; it is not transmitted to humans. It affects animals. An animal that gives 15 liters of milk will give 3 if it is affected. Anyone who measures 200 kg, for example, will lose a hundred," he said.
The director general of INRAPE mentioned that the disease entered following the arrival of animals from Tanzania and Kenya on board a boat which docked Wednesday to Thursday [14-15 Dec 2022]. The sale of these animals is strictly prohibited for the moment, according to the speakers, in order to be able to stem the spread of the disease. Hamza Abdou Azali suggested doubts on the part of the authorities of neighboring countries regarding the measures to allow animals to be transported to the Comoros.
[byline: Nassila Ben Ali]
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communicated by:
ProMED rapporteur Mahmoud Orabi
[For the geographic situation of the islands Comoros and Mwali, facing on their west Mozambique and Tanzania, see map at https://tinyurl.com/295tc4s2.
According to WRLFMD's country report of Comoros, FMD was last reported there in March 2019; no earlier data are available. The 2019 virus was identified as serotype O, topotype EA-2. The genotyping results and genetic relatedness with other regional FMDV strains are available at https://www.wrlfmd.org/sites/world/files/quick_media/WRLMEG-2019-00030-COM-GTR-O-O_001.pdf. See also ProMED post 20190419.6429988.
In Kenya and Mozambique, FMD is reportedly endemic. The serotypes which have been reported during 2020/2021 in Kenya are O, A, and SAT 1. The serotypes SAT1, SAT2, and possibly SAT 3 are endemic in the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) population.
Mozambique has officially reported FMD outbreaks in April 2022 (ProMED post 20220418.8702695). The disease continued its spread during the following months. The strain involved has been serotyped O, topotype EA-2. Its genotyping results are available on the website of WRLFMD at https://www.wrlfmd.org/sites/world/files/quick_media/WRLMEG-2022-00021-MOZ-GTR-O-O_001.pdf. - Mod.AS
ProMED map of Comoros: https://promedmail.org/promed-post?place=8707478,175]
