Published Date: 2022-01-15 02:21:39 GMT
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Foot & mouth disease - Tunisia: (BA) cattle, st O, OIE
Archive Number: 20220115.8700865
FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - TUNISIA: (BEN AROUS) CATTLE, SEROTYPE O, OIE
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[This is an updated version of the OIE report. In the description of the affected population, the English version of the original report in French translated "maquignon" as "horse dealer". The usual use of the term "maquignon" in Tunisia is "livestock trader". The OIE report was also updated and its URL was replaced by the one below. - Mod.CRD]
Date: Wed 12 Jan 2022
Source: OIE WAHID (World Animal Health Information Database), weekly disease information 2022 [edited]
https://wahis.oie.int/#/report-info?reportId=46858
Foot and mouth disease virus (infection with), Tunisia
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General information
Report type: Immediate notification
Started: 4 Jan 2022
Confirmed: 5 Jan 2022
Reported: 12 Jan 2022
Reason for notification: recurrence
Last occurrence: 6 Mar 2019
Causal agent: Foot and mouth disease virus
Serotype: O
Nature of diagnosis: clinical, laboratory
This event pertains to the whole country.
New outbreaks
Summary of outbreaks
Total outbreaks (1)
Outbreak location: Chala, Mornag, Ben Arous (Tunis Sud)
Date of start of the outbreak: 4 Jan 2022
Epidemiological unit: farm
Affected animals
Species / Susceptible / Cases / Deaths / Killed and disposed of / Slaughtered or killed for commercial use / Vaccinated
Sheep / 4 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 187
Cattle / 35 / 8 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 118
Affected population description: dairy farm in contact with a livestock trader. The young cattle show signs of hypersalivation, oral lesions and a drop in milk production.
Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection: Unknown or inconclusive
Epidemiological comments: The last mass vaccination campaign of cattle and small ruminants was finalized in August 2021. The main measures taken are peri-focal vaccination, reinforcement of biosecurity measures, vaccination booster in organized farms, and start of the mass vaccination campaign.
Control measures at event level
Domestic control measures applied: quarantine; vaccination in response to the outbreak(s); surveillance within containment and/or the protection zone; surveillance outside containment and/or the protection zone; movement control inside the country; disinfection
Control measures different from event level: process to inactivate the pathogenic agent in products or byproducts
Diagnostic test results
Laboratory name and type: Veterinary Research Institute, Tunis (national laboratory)
Species / Outbreaks / Test / Tested from / Result
Cattle / 1 / real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) / 5 Jan 2022 / positive
[The location of the outbreak can be seen on the interactive map included in the OIE report at the source URL above.]
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Communicated by:
ProMED
[Although the source of infection has been reported as "unknown or inconclusive," the OIE report includes the statement: "Affected population: dairy farm in contact with a livestock trader." In case the introduction of FMD into the farm is ascribed to that contact, including fomites and vehicle, tracing the trader's movements may allow detection of additional foci of infection. - Mod.AS
The following abstract and information come from an article by Marsot M, Durand B, Ben Hammouda W, et al. Evaluation of human resources needed and comparison with human resources available to implement emergency vaccination in case of foot and mouth disease outbreaks in Tunisia. Epidemiol Infect. 2020; 148, E128; https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268820001284
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Abstract
"Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease that affects domestic and wild artiodactyl animals and causes considerable economic losses related to outbreak management, production losses, and trade impacts. In Tunisia, the last FMD outbreak took place in 2018-2019. The effectiveness of control measures implemented to control FMD depends, in particular, on the human resources used to implement them. Tunisia has the ultimate objective of obtaining OIE status as 'FMD-free with vaccination.' The aim of this study was to determine and compare the necessary and available human resources to control FMD outbreaks in Tunisia using emergency vaccination and to assess the gaps that would play a role in the implementation of the strategy. We developed a resources-requirement grid of necessary human resources for the management of the emergency vaccination campaign launched after the identification of a FMD-infected premises in Tunisia. Field surveys, conducted in the 24 governorates of Tunisia, allowed quantifying the available human resources for several categories of skills considered in the resources-requirement grid. For each governorate, we then compared available and necessary human resources to implement vaccination according to 8 scenarios mixing generalised or cattle-targeted vaccination and different levels of human resources. The resources-requirement grid included 11 tasks in 3 groups: management of FMD-infected premises, organisational tasks, and vaccination implementation. The available human resources for vaccination-related tasks included veterinarians and technicians from the public sector and appointed private veterinarians. The comparison of available and necessary human resources showed vaccination-related tasks to be the most time-consuming in terms of managing an FMD outbreak. Increasing the available human resources using appointed private veterinarians allowed performing the emergency vaccination of animals in the governorate in due time, especially if vaccination was targeted on cattle. The overall approach was validated by comparing the predicted and observed durations of a vaccination campaign conducted under the same conditions as during the 2014 Tunisian outbreak. This study could provide support to the Tunisian Veterinary Services or to other countries to optimise the management of a FMD outbreak."
Introduction
"In Tunisia, livestock farming, mainly small-scale production of cattle or small ruminants, is an important component of agricultural production, contributing to food security and alleviating poverty. The Veterinary Services in Tunisia consists of a central administration, the General Directorate of Veterinary Services, which is one of the 9 General Directorates of the Ministry of Agriculture. The territorial services are Animal Production districts, which are part of the 24 Regional Agricultural Development Commissions (RADC). These official veterinary services collaborate with a network of appointed private veterinarians (n = 260 in 2020) to carry out certain veterinary prophylaxis. Tunisia has experienced several episodes of FMD outbreaks since 1975. In 2014, 150 FMD-infected premises of the serotype O/ME-SA/Ind-2001 were reported throughout Tunisia over 20 of the 24 governorates. Specific measures were taken as soon as the 1st FMD-infected premises was confirmed to prevent the spread of the disease, mainly increasing vaccination coverage for cattle and small ruminants. In 2017, 2 FMD-infected premises with the serotype A/AFRICA/G-IV were identified in Tunisia. The last outbreak in Tunisia took place from December 2018 to April 2019, with 14 FMD-infected premises (serotype O/EA-3) distributed among 5 governorates. As a member of the Mediterranean Animal Health Epidemiological Surveillance Network (REMESA), Tunisia has the specific objective to implement efficient and achievable control measures against FMD. However, these last FMD experiences revealed many difficulties in the management of FMD outbreaks, especially in terms of limited human resources to implement control measures." - Mod.CRD
ProMED map:
Ben Arous, Bin ‘Arūs, Tunisia: https://promedmail.org/promed-post?place=8700865,32199]