EUFMD 

33rd Session

Report

Appendix 01

Appendix 02

Appendix 03

Appendix 04

Appendix 05

Appendix 06

Appendix 07

Appendix 09

Appendix 10

Appendix 11

Appendix 12

Appendix 13

Appendix 14

Appendix 15

Appendix 16

Appendix 17

Appendix 18

Appendix 19

Appendix 20

Appendix 21

Appendix 4 - Report on the FMD Situation in Algeria

History

On the 20 and 21^st February 1999, 2 cases of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) were suspected in cattle belonging to a butcher in Souidania (1 case out of 2) and Birtouta (2 cases out of 56) in the Governorate of Grand Alger. These cattle were acquired on the 17^th Feb in the El-Harrach transit centre. The OIE was informed of the suspicion on the 22^nd Feb. 1999 and vesicular material was taken and sent to the World Reference Laboratory (WRL) in Pirbright who confirmed the presence of the virus of type O on the 25^th Feb. The OIE and FAO were immediately informed.

In parallel, an appeal for vigilance was launched throughout the national territory with active surveillance in all farms, and mobilisation of all the profession including private practitioners and an emergency unit was set-up at central level to follow the disease situation for the entire national territory.

A Press conference was organised at the ministry of Agriculture, which allowed the message to be passed to farmers, awareness notices were also placed in many newspapers appealing for vigilance.

A system of control was conceived in such a way that all suspicions of FMD were reported through the quickest channel.

The farmers supported the plan that was put in place and then facilitated the application of the sanitary measures.

Epidemiological Data

Isolation of the virus

The isolation of the virus by Pirbright confirmed that the virus was of type O. Partial sequencing of the virus indicated that it was a different type O virus from other type O's available at Pirbright, and in particular from the strains currently circulating in many countries of the Middle East as well as the strain which circulated in the Maghreb between 1989 and 1992.

On the 8^th Mar. 1999, the WRL informed us that the sequencing showed that the virus strain was very close to those strains circulating in West Africa, this confirmed our suspicions about the origin of the disease. Indeed, zebu cattle introduced fraudulently across our southern frontiers during the month of February, were intercepted in the "grand sud", in the south of the wilayates of El bayadh and Béchar and in the south of the wilaya of El Oued and were destroyed. It is worthwhile noting that these zebu cattle did not present any clinical signs of FMD.

Incidence of the disease

Since the beginning of the epizootic and up to the 11^th May 1999, 179 farms and 143 communes out of 1541 have been infected by the disease.

Animal species affected

Butchers cattle accounted for 90% of the cases, cows of local breeds, some heifers and milking cows accounted for the rest.

It is the central wilayates that have been most affected: Tizi-ouzou, Blida, Boumerdés and Bouira. These wilayates are situated all around the capital and have registered 95 infected farms, all situated one next to another with 801 cases.

It is worth while noting that these infected wilayates are found along the main road Sétif - Governorate of Grand Alger - Blida.

Evolution in space

The first cases of FMD were reported almost simultaneously on the 20^th and 21^st Feb. 1999, in the communes of Souidania and Birtouta (Governorate of Grand Alger) with the infected animals having been acquired in the transit centre of El Harrach on the 17^th Feb. 1999. The enquiry conducted at this level, revealed that the infected cattle belonged to a dealer from the wilaya of Sétif and were introduced to the transit centre on the 16^th Feb. 1999, and that the cattle from the same lot were purchased by other dealers from the wilayates of Tizi-ouzou, Boumerdés, Bouira and Médéa in the centre, Rélizane, Mostaganem and Mascara in the West of the country - where cases of FMD in these regions appeared after a lapse of 10 days.

Furthermore, on the 22^nd Feb. 1999, one isolated case of FMD was suspected in the commune of Khemissa (wilaya of Souk-Ahras) close to 50Km from the Tunisian border and on the 23^rd Feb. 1999 in the commune of Meskiana (wilaya of Oum-El-Bouaghi) bordering Tunisia.

Between the 23^rd and the 26^th Feb. all the cattle acquired in the transit centre of El-Harrach on the 17^th presented with clinical signs of FMD in Boumerdès, Sétif and Médéa on the 24^th and Bouira, Bordj-Bou-Arreridj and Rélizane on the 25^th.

Other cases were subsequently declared in the west of the country on the main national road number 2 (the most westerly outbreak was in the commune of Sebdou (wilaya de Tlemcen) bordering Morocco, on the 8^th Mar.).

Evolution in time

The number of outbreaks increased in the second week of the epizootic between the 25^th Feb and the 3^rd Mar., the rapid implementation of a slaughter policy and a generalised vaccination campaign covering almost all of the livestock population has permitted a systematic control of the disease in the majority of the national herd. From the 4^th Mar., the number of cases started to diminish.

After a 12 day period of calm from the 18^th Mar. to the 30^th Mar., new outbreaks were notified in 4 wilayates: 1 outbreak in Batna, 1 outbreak in Constatine in the East, one outbreak in Tebessa on the Tunisian border and final outbreak in the south of the wilaya of Saida in the west of the country approximately 150Km from the Moroccan border. All the animals affected had not benefitted from vaccination.

It is worthwhile to note that in the last two wilayates affected, the outbreaks contained some cases in sheep and goats as well as in cattle. Samples were taken from sheep in the outbreak in Saida and sent to the WRL, Pirbright for confirmation.

After confirmation of the outbreak in Saida by Pirbright, another outbreak of ovine FMD was declared in Sidi Bel Abbes in sheep originating from the Saida region. The usual regulations were applied.

Prevention

Sanitary prevention

As cited above, all of the media was used since the 22^nd of Feb. to sensitise farmers and to appeal to them to participate in the prevention programme to protect their livestock. With a conservative headline, it recommended them to:

1. Avoid acquiring new animals and introducing them into their herd.
2. Suspend animal movements
3. Apply disinfection to their barns and the access-ways to them
4. Forbid everybody entry to their farm.
5. Facilitate visits from veterinary inspectors and report all clinical signs which may be suspicious of being FMD.

Furthermore, the closure of animal markets and the banning of animal movements became effective on the 23^rd Feb. in the infected wilayates and on the 25^th Feb. for the rest of the national territory.

At the level of the infected farms, all cattle affected have been destroyed and those contaminated were slaughtered for meat, the carcasses were freed after maturation of the meat for 36 hours at 4°C, followed by disinfection and a mandatory period when the premises must be left empty, along with intensification of surveillance all around the outbreaks. The owners of the slaughtered animals were compensated from funds maintained for zoosanitary protection.

Medical prevention

In the first week of the epizootic, ring vaccination around the outbreaks was operated, then the vaccination campaign was generalised to all of the national herd, including small ruminants along the frontier on the east of the country following the appearance of cases of FMD in sheep in Tunisia.

To this day, 1.1 million cattle have been primo-vaccinated and 160,551 cattle have received a booster vaccination after one month. Furthermore, 600,000 sheep and 34,733 goats have been vaccinated around the outbreaks.

Central Wilayates

Western Wilayates

Eastern Wilayates

Situation as of June 22, 1999

Since the 33^rd Session one new outbreak has been registered.

Location: Sidi Bel Abbes (Wilayate de l’Ouest)

Species Affected: Ovine

Number of Susceptible Animals: 30

Cases: 10

Destroyed: 10

Slaughtered: 20

Vaccination has continued, and to date has covered:

Bovine: Primo-vaccination 1 216 960

Booster 430 221

Ovine: 829 350

Caprine: 48 561

© European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease

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