The number of confirmed foot-and-mouth cases reached 2,013 out of a total of 74,573 suspected cases between 26 February and 13 March, said head of the General Authority for Veterinary Services’ Central Department for Preventive Medicine Dr. Suhair Abdel Qader.
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals. The virus causes a high fever for two or three days, followed by blisters inside the mouth and on the feet that may rupture and cause lameness.
Abdel Qader went on to say that the death rate from FMD for adult livestock is only two to three percent, which is the reason that most of the deaths occurred in calves.
She said that Gharbiya Governorate had the highest incidence of deaths from the disease, with 10,371 suspected cases and 850 fatal cases.
Abdel Qader went on to say that reports on the spread of FMD in Egypt indicated a total of 1,668 suspected cases and 70 deaths in Alexandria, 2,436 suspected cases and 95 deaths in Daqahlia, 980 suspected cases and 52 deaths in Qalyubiya, 1,035 suspected cases and 41 deaths in Giza and 1,419 suspected cases and 86 deaths in Beheira.
Abdel Qader said the new FMD strain had been isolated and a “local vaccine was being manufactured within government vaccination labs in Cairo.” A vaccine was expected to be ready for use within a period of two weeks, she said.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
