Published Date: 2022-04-21 11:49:12 BST
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Foot & mouth disease - Israel (04): cattle, sheep, st O, spread, epidemiology, RFI
Archive Number: 20220421.8702742
FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - ISRAEL (04): CATTLE, SHEEP, SEROTYPE O, SPREAD, EPIDEMIOLOGY, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
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: Thu 14 Apr 2022 [accessed 22 Apr 2022]
Source: Israel Cattle Breeders Association (ICBA) [in Hebrew, trans. Mod.AS, abridged, edited]
https://tinyurl.com/yyadjve7
FMD updates received from the VSAH (Veterinary Services & Animal Health) since the start of the event, last updated 14 Apr 2022:
No. / Date / Location / District / Species
1 / 3 Feb 2022 / Maaleh Shomron / J&S / bov
2 / 3 Feb 2022 / Kfar Yehoshua 1 / HZ / bov, ov
3 / 10 Feb 2022 / Kfar Yehoshua 2 / HZ / bov
4 / 10 Feb 2022 / Kfar Yehoshua 3 / HZ / bov
5 / 15 Feb 2022 / Kfar Yehoshua 4 / HZ / bov
6 / 15 Feb 2022 / Kfar Yehoshua 5 / HZ / bov
7 / 22 Feb 2022 / Kfar Yehoshua 6 / HZ / ov
8 / 23 Feb 2022 / Nahalal 1 / HZ / bov
9 / 24 Feb 2022 / Kfar Yehoshua 7 / HZ / bov
10 / 28 Feb 2022 / Nahalal 2 / HZ / bov
11 / 3 Mar 2022 / Nahalal 3 / HZ / bov
12 / 3 Mar 2022 / Bet Shearim / HZ / bov
13 / 7 Mar 2022 / Kfar Yehoshua 8 / HZ / bov
14 / 8 Mar 2022 / Sde Yaakov 1 / HZ / bov
15 / 9 Mar 2022 / Kibbutz Kalia / J&S / bov
16 / 10 Mar 2022 / Kafr Kassem / HM / ov
17 / 13 Mar 2022 / Kibbutz Metzer / HA / bov
18 / 14 Mar 2022 / Sde Yaakov 2 / HZ / bov
19 / 17 Mar 2022 / Rahat / HD / ov
20 / 17 Mar 2022 / Zarazir / HZ / ov
21 / 20 Mar 2022 / Kfar Yehoshua 9 / HZ / bov
22 / 23 Mar 2022 / Achisemech / HM / bov
23 / 24 Mar 2022 / Nahalal 4 / HZ / bov
24 / 27 Mar 2022 / Sde-Illan / HZ / bov
25 / 27 Mar 2022 / Dvora / HZ / ov
26 / 29 Mar 2022 / Iblin / HZ / bov
27 / 29 Mar 2022 / Nitzanei Oz / HM / bov
28 / 30 Mar 2022 / Kfar Yehoshua 10 / HZ / bov
29 / 30 Mar 2022 / Kfar Yehoshua 11 / HZ / bov
30 / 7 Apr 2022 / Zarazir 2 / HZ / bov
31 / 7 Apr 2022 / Prazon 1 / HZ / bov
32 / 7 Apr 2022 / Kibbutz Gilead / HZ / bov
33 / 10 Apr 2022 / Prazon 2 / HZ / bov
34 / 10 Apr 2022 / Arbel / HZ / ov
--
Communicated by:
ProMED
[Since the previous update (ProMED post 20220321.8702125) on the ongoing FMD epizootic in Israel, 16 new outbreaks have been added, currently totalling 34, affecting dairy farms, fattening cattle and sheep units, grazing beef cattle, and sheep farms. The epizootic, caused by FMDV O, topotype ME-SA, lineage PanAsia 2, sublineage ANT-10 had started in Jordan in November 2021. It spread westward into the West Bank district, Tubas governorate of the Palestinian Authority (PA), reportedly on 12 Dec 2021. In early February 2022, it entered Israel's Northern district (Hazafon, HZ). As presented in the table above, FMD has since spread further in the central (HM) and southern (HD) districts of Israel (but see comment further down).
The following additional information, received from a reliable professional source known to ProMED, provides epidemiological data and background (edited):
"1. From Tubas, the disease spread widely in the unvaccinated ruminants population all over the West Bank on hundreds of farms, causing major deaths in young lambs.
2. In the settlement Mechola, within the Palestinian "C" area [the area in the West Bank controlled by Israel; uncoloured on the map at https://tinyurl.com/mr3r8v3p], near Tubas, a private import quarantine station is operational. Imported lambs and calves are kept there for a couple of weeks before being released to fattening farms. The imported stock are vaccinated in the facility against FMD upon arrival. They are expected to remain there for a prescribed period to gain immunity before being transferred further.
3. On 17 Dec 2021, a shipment of lambs was transported to the quarantine station from a ship by trucks. After 2 weeks, this shipment was sent to a fattening farm in Kfar Yehoshua, HZ, Israel. A week later, FMD was reported in calves on a cattle farm fence to fence with the lamb-fattening operation. On 3 Jan 2022, another shipment, this time calves, was sent to the same quarantine station, and so on since then.
4. In Israel, the practice is to declare a restricted area of 3 km [1.9 mi] and 10 km [6.2 mi] around the location of a confirmed FMD farm. Consequently, many areas are currently under such restrictions, interrupting the transfer and slaughter of cattle and sheep.
5. A total of nearly 70 000 calves and more than 120 000 lambs have been imported to Israel between 1 Feb and 11 Apr 2022. All shipments are from FMD-free countries where the animals are not vaccinated.
6. Currently, FMD keeps spreading in Israel, mostly in fattening operations and in naive small household herds."
Confirmation or otherwise and additions to the information above will be welcomed.
The State Veterinary Services of Jordan, PA, and Israel are facing a complex situation, since this year [2022] the Ramadan and Pesach feasts, traditionally signified by a steep demand for mutton, beef, and live animals for ritual slaughter, are celebrated simultaneously. Aggravated by the current political unrest, the task on their hands in controlling the epizootic is not to be envied.
Notably, in the Gaza district of the PA, a different FMDV-O strain was recorded in December 2021, namely topotype EA-3. It would be interesting to note if samples from FMD outbreaks in adjacent HD district, southern Israel, have been tested to exclude the possibility of FMDV O topotype EA-3 circulating there, on top of the strain introduced from Jordan, circulating in HZ and HM districts. - Mod.AS
ProMED map of Israel: https://promedmail.org/promed-post?place=8702742,90]
