FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE IN KUWAIT

See also: 1 September 2000, 9 June 2000

Emergency report

Text of a fax received on 22 April 2001 from Dr Sultan Al-Khalaf, Deputy Director General, The Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAF), Safat:

Report date: 21 April 2001.

Nature of diagnosis: clinical and laboratory.

Date of initial detection of animal health incident: 17 April 2001.

Estimated date of first infection: 13 April 2001.

Outbreaks:

Location	No. of outbreaks
Kabd	1

Description of affected population: calves, aged between 2 and 6 months, raised on a smallholder farm for slaughter, and a dairy cow, which was vaccinated against foot and mouth disease (FMD) on 25 November 2000.

Total number of animals in the outbreak:

species	susceptible	cases	deaths	destroyed	slaughtered
bov	66*	25	0	0	0

* 65 calves and 1 cow.

Diagnosis:

A. Laboratory where diagnosis was made: Virology Laboratory, Al-Rai.

B. Diagnostic tests used: ELISA⁽¹⁾ for antigen detection. Virus isolation on tissue culture is in progress.

C. Causal agent: FMD virus type O₁ Manisa.

Epidemiology:

A. Source of agent / origin of infection: under investigation.

B. Other epidemiological details: the owner of the affected animals is a trader who buys and sells different species of animals and birds from markets and farms. He had recently purchased calves from different farms in Sulaibiya.

Control measures: routine vaccination of cattle is carried out in smallholdings in the country. However, the following measures have been instituted:

- cleaning and disinfection of the affected farm, and burning of contaminated animal bedding, manure, etc. on the infected farm;

- emergency vaccination has been mounted to boost the immunity of susceptible cattle;

- imposition of quarantine and total ban on animal movements into and out of Kabd by mobilising the armed and police forces to enforce the measures;

- closure of animal markets at Kabd and in the surrounding area.

(1) ELISA: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

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