- Riyadh - More than 4,000 cases of foot and mouth disease
are believed to have broken out in Saudi Arabia, but only 15 per cent
of the cases have been reported to the Ministry of Agriculture and Water,
said a senior official in the ministry yesterday. The disease has started
to break out rapidly from the beginning of this month, especially among
imported cattle.
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- Farm owners do not report the cases they discover because
they think that the authorities will also slaughter healthy animals along
with those infected to prevent the spread of the highly contagious disease.
They resort instead to veterinarians to vaccinate their animals, the official
who preferred anonymity, said. The disease has been detected in all regions
in Saudi Arabia and though there are no accurate statistics of the infected
cases, there are signs that the disease is spreading quickly, he said.
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- The official expressed his deep concern over the possibility
of the spread of the disease in dairy farms. There are big dairy farms
such as Al Safi, which has over 20,000 cows. He noted that the spread of
the disease on such a farm will adversely affect the supply of dairy products
in the country.
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- The official called on all farmers to report any foot-and-mouth
disease cases and warned that his ministry will impose penalties on those
who fail to report these cases. "The ministry has provided vaccines
to vaccinate animals in infected areas and farmers whose animals were slaughtered
by the authorities will be compensated," he said.
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