FMD is back, threatening Iraq’s livestock again as breeders panic Saadoun Rumi says: He kept vaccinating his cattle to protect them from FMD to ensure milk production, but it’s a viral disease that affected livestock in northern Iraq killed five of his fifteen buffalo due to the strain It arrived in the country for the first time FMD, which has been present in Iraq for decades, is closely monitored due to its rapid spread. transmission and devastating economic impact, but this year has been marked by an unprecedented severity of infections in the country, according to veterinary units in the province of Nineveh in the north.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), analysis of samples sent to neighboring Turkey revealed a SAT2 strain not previously reported in Iraq.
It is clear that the vaccines used in Iraq do not protect against this mutated virus, so the authorities must obtain the appropriate vaccine to stop its spread.
“This disease has affected animals in the past, but this year the infections have become larger and more widespread,” said Rumi, a 26-year-old buffalo breeder from the town of Badush, near Mosul. “Every day, 20 to 25 infections are recorded in the village.” .”
In the yard of his house, he takes care of his buffaloes, and one of them is kneeling on the ground, weakly eating food because it is infected with the virus after five other buffaloes from his herd died.
All of his buffaloes were vaccinated during a 2021 campaign by the authorities.
This young man believes that the vaccines that have been used are ineffective, and he said: “FMD has killed the livestock.” And because of this disease and high feed prices, which prompted breeders to cut back on animal feed, the milk production on this man’s farm, responsible for four children, was halved.
He says: “A single buffalo currently does not produce 25 kilograms of milk per day, whereas before infection it produced a full keg (50 kilograms).”
Although foot-and-mouth disease does not pose a “direct threat to human health,” according to the FAO, it is highly contagious to livestock such as buffalo, sheep, goats, and others, and is characterized by mouth ulcers on the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, chest, and paws.
According to the United Nations, “the disease can cause high mortality rates in newborn and adult animals, significantly reducing weight, as well as reducing milk yields and fertility rates for reproduction.”
