January 31, 2023

 

1.6% of Jordan's cattle infected with foot-and-mouth disease

 

Jordan's Ministry of Agriculture said 1.6% or 1,478 head of cattle out of 92,000 cows total in the country have been infected with foot-and-mouth disease since the outbreak was first detected, Jordan News reported.

 

The ministry said epidemiological investigation and follow-up teams have visited the affected farms and are monitoring the situation, collecting samples and sending them for examination to livestock laboratories, as part of the ministry's efforts to follow up on the outbreak.

 

56 farms have officially reported infections since the outbreak began, infecting 1,478 of the 14,456 head of cattle on these farms.

 

Under Jordan's National Plan for Agriculture, the ministry launched a national campaign to immunise livestock against foot-and-mouth disease in the fourth quarter of 2022, vaccinating over 4 million sheep, goats, and cows.

 

To reduce the risk of transmission, the ministry has implemented a number of measures, including raising awareness about the use of biosecurity measures and suspending imports of straw and hay from neighbouring countries with confirmed cases of the disease.

 

Jordan's Ministry of Agriculture said the current situation in Jordan cannot be officially classified as an outbreak based on global standards, and there will be no impact on milk supply or price, given the abundance of milk production, which more than covers local market demand.

 

Khaled Al-Huneifat, Jordan's Minister of Agriculture, said the disease spread to Jordan via the import of fodder from a neighbouring Arab country.

 

The epidemic, which primarily affects cattle, is endemic, affecting only the Dulail area of Zarqa Governorate, he said.

 

Huneifat said the ministry is planning additional rounds of vaccinations for March and April.

 

-      Jordan News