Cairo: «Middle East» Municipalities in western Libya are in a state of fear for livestock, due to the significant increase in the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, while Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba, Prime Minister of National Unity, directed the formation of a central committee headed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Hussein Al-Qatrani, to follow up on The command.
Over the past week, many livestock markets were closed in Libya, including Qasr Ben Ghashir and Tarhuna Zliten, with the intention of reducing the spread of “foot-and-mouth disease,” amid a warning from the Animal Health Center of the outbreak of “lumpy skin” and “foot-and-mouth disease.”
Among the tasks of the Central Committee that Al-Dabaiba ordered its formation on Monday is to monitor the spread of “foot-and-mouth disease” within some municipalities, and “to take preventive measures and measures to limit the spread of the epidemic.” The committee includes the Ministries of Interior, Agriculture, Local Government, Agricultural Police and Municipal Guard, with the aim of implementing the plan of the National Center for Animal Health, following up on livestock selling markets and establishing the necessary controls.
To prevent the spread of the disease, Al-Dabaiba held a meeting with the management committee of the National Center for Animal Health, and the directors of the centre’s departments and divisions, on Sunday evening, to follow up on the plan to combat “foot-and-mouth disease” spreading in some municipalities.
The Director of the National Center, Abdul Rahman Jbeil, presented a technical position on the spread of the disease, the epidemiological situation in the municipalities, and the steps taken, stressing that the Center has completed contractual procedures for the supply of vaccines, veterinary serums, medicines, pesticides and veterinary disinfectants, and coordination with the Agricultural Police Service, the Municipal Guard and the General Administration of Environmental Sanitation, to follow up. Market conditions and work on treatment through disinfectants and baths.
Jbeil explained that “the entry of smuggled animals into Libya through land ports is the main reason for the increased spread of this disease among livestock.” The municipality of Tarhuna (95 kilometers from Tripoli to the southeast) announced the death of 270 sheep due to “foot-and-mouth disease.”
An agricultural police member during an inspection campaign on a market for sheep and livestock in Gharyan (Agricultural Police) The Agricultural Police closed the popular Sunday market for selling livestock and sheep in the municipality of Qasr Bin Ghashir (south of Tripoli), due to “the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, which affects sheep, and lumpy skin disease, which affects cows, in areas adjacent to the municipality.”
The Municipal Guard in Zliten has also closed the livestock markets in the municipality since last Friday, “due to the emergence of a number of animal epidemic diseases and their spread from one region to another.”
The National Center for Animal Health warned of the danger of an outbreak of “lumpy skin” and “foot-and-mouth disease” on livestock, and urged all relevant authorities in the country to strengthen the veterinary sector’s capacity to take the necessary measures, to avoid the situation turning into a “disaster.”
