Palestinian Authority: (West Bank) spread, serotype O, vaccination

PA Ministry of Agriculture statement: FMD spread, control measures, vaccination
Date: Sat 22 Jan 2022
Source: Dunya Al-Watan [in Arabic, machine trans., abridged, edited]
https://www.alwatanvoice.com/arabic/news/2022/01/22/1458181.html


The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture [MOA] issued a press statement yesterday, Friday [21 Jan 2022], regarding the recent spread of foot and mouth disease [FMD] in some neighboring countries of Palestine, and its transmission through cross-border wild animals [see comment]. The ministry confirmed, in a statement, a copy of which was received by "Dunia Al-Watan", that a number of cases of FMD have been recorded among the sheep population in some Palestinian governorates.

In its statement, the ministry indicated that its Palestinian veterinary services intensified their efforts to control and contain infection hotspots and prevent the spread of the disease, by vaccinating more than 200 000 sheep and cows, using the strategic stock of FMD vaccine available in the ministry's warehouses. It also intensified monitoring and investigation procedures for the disease.

The ministry's statement indicated that it has expended extensive efforts with regional and international bodies to provide additional quantities of the FMD vaccine. These efforts were successful, the ministry announcing at the same time that it was able to purchase additional quantities of the vaccine through Palestinian companies, despite the vaccine scarcity in the global market and the imposition of strict restrictions on the import of veterinary vaccines. The ministry said: "This quantity of the purchased vaccine is sufficient to implement all the field activities carried out by the veterinary services in the Ministry of Agriculture that are necessary to combat the disease, contain it, and prevent its spread.

The ministry called upon livestock breeders to follow the veterinary services departments in the governorates, obtaining the necessary instructions and to cooperate with their crews in the field to provide them with appropriate assistance, calling at the same time on importers of live animals and their dealers to follow the instructions of the veterinary departments as of tomorrow, Sunday [23 Jan 2022] in order to accomplish the vaccination of imported animals and to update import procedures, according to the relevant instructions and regulations. It was indicated that all directives came after evaluating the epidemiological situation which calls for imposing measures to limit the movement of animals into or within the country, and to address them according to the veterinary quarantine system.

In the context, the MOA confirmed that FMD is not transmitted to humans. It is an endemic disease in the Middle East, including Palestine. The efforts made to control this disease, including the preventive measures and immunizations in the infection hotspots since the onset of the event, are expected to rule out red meat prices being affected due to FMD.

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communicated by:
ProMED

[The FMD outbreak in the Palestinian Authority's territory reportedly started on 12 Dec 2021 in the Tubas governorate, adjacent to the Jordan river separating it from the Kingdom of Jordan. The comment in the MOA statement about 'transmission through cross-border wild animals' is likely to be related to a dense wild boar population in a zone along the Jordan river. This suspicion deserves further studies, including serological investigations on both sides of the river.

The event in Jordan reportedly started on 4 Nov 2021 in the Amman province, spreading to the Mafraq and Irbid provinces. Both Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have reported that their respective outbreaks have been caused by a similar genotype, namely FMDV O, topotype ME-SA, lineage PanAsia 2, sublineage ANT-10.

Mass vaccination in response to the outbreaks, already started in Jordan and the West Bank, are expected to use safe and efficacious vaccines. Applying a matching vaccine is warranted; hopefully, sufficient quantities of such vaccine become available for the required needs of Jordan and the PA. The most recent 'vaccine matching strain differentiation report' of the World FMD reference laboratory (Pirbright), related to FMD virus strain O ME-SA PanAsia 2, is available at https://www.wrlfmd.org/sites/world/files/quick_media/WRLFMD-2021-00004-ISR-VMR-O-O_001.pdf. - Mod.AS]