Published Date: 2024-03-13 20:25:52 GMT
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Foot & mouth disease - Libya (06): (eastern, JK) spread, livestock
Archive Number: 20240313.8715367
FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - LIBYA (06): (EASTERN, AL JABAL AL AKHDAR) SPREAD, LIVESTOCK
A ProMED-mail post http://www.promedmail.org
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Date: Sun 10 Mar 2024 14:28 EET
Source: Libyan News Agency [in Arabic, trans. Mod.SF, edited]
https://lana.gov.ly/post.php?lang=ar&id=303702
The director of the Al-Bayda Livestock Department, Saleh Sulaiman Abu Ambaraka, called on the responsible authorities to intervene quickly to provide vaccines for livestock and provide a vehicle equipped to spray pesticides and spray infected areas to reduce the spread of foot-and-mouth disease and save livestock.
He explained in a statement to the Libyan Newspaper that the number of infections has so far reached about 7000 infections, of which about 700 heads have died, indicating that the Animal Health Office in Tripoli provided a small amount of disinfectants and special protective clothing, while regarding vaccinations and vaccines, the government has not provided anything so far, knowing that these diseases come annually.
In the same context, he said that the increase in meat prices is caused by storm Daniel, which destroyed more than 40% of livestock, and the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, which led to the death of a large number of livestock, indicating that the livestock markets in Al Jabal al Akhdar were closed, but due to the entry of Ramadan, they were opened in other places by breeders and traders.
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[In addition to foot-and-mouth disease, this region of Libya has been experiencing an alarming spread of lumpy skin disease since September 2023, following the passage of storm Daniel (see https://promedmail.org/promed-post/?id=8714548), which explains the reference to vector control in the above press article.
In recent years, Libya has suffered from social instability, which has had an impact on the veterinary services' strategy for combating transboundary animal diseases. The abstract and citation of an interesting paper entitled "Linking animal diseases and social instability" follow (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30152472/):
Citation: Lubroth J, El Idrissi AH, Myers L, et al. Linking animal diseases and social instability. Rev Sci Tech. 2017;36:445-457. https://doi.org/10.20506/rst.36.2.2665
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Abstract
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"Social instability occurs as a consequence of war, civil strife, or natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and droughts. Animal diseases, including zoonoses, can be both a precursor to social instability and a result of social instability. Coping mechanisms, such as sound policies, trust in government, and robust infrastructure break down at times of civil instability. Such breakdowns often lead to a decline in both public health and the food and agricultural livestock base, thus creating a vicious cycle that involves inadequate nutrition, threatened livelihoods, and fewer opportunities for safe trade. This article is principally a discussion of a theoretical nature on the dynamics between animal diseases and social instability. Based on their experience of working for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the authors provide numerous examples of the connection between the two, mostly in countries that have fragile environments and are experiencing protracted crises. Disease has a direct and immediate effect on a community, but, in addition, if the community is not able to recover from the impact of a disease on their health and livelihoods, the consequences of an outbreak can persist even after the disease is no longer present. Stability, therefore, depends on a variety of factors, including the ability of a community to overcome the effects of a disease outbreak or other destabilising event. The FAO approach to helping families and communities to cope with the destabilizing effects of animal diseases is to build resilience, particularly amongst the most vulnerable households. This requires individuals and governments to gain a better understanding of what drives disease at the interface between human and animal health. In addition, it requires governments to invest in social protection programmes, establish a long-term risk reduction strategy that decreases vulnerability, and improve the sustainability of safe agricultural and marketing practices." - Mod.SF
ProMED map of Al Jabal al Akhá¸'ar, Libya: https://promedmail.org/promed-post?place=8715308,69023]