Tweet
Archive Number 20100107.0066
Published Date 07-JAN-2010
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Undiagnosed deaths, ovine - Saudi Arabia, RFI
UNDIAGNOSED DEATHS, OVINE - SAUDI ARABIA, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
***********************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Tue 4 Jan 2009
Source: Saudi Gazette [edited]
<http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=20100104590 93&archiveissuedate=04/01/2010>
More than 60 sheep in the flood-hit Al-Samir District, east of
Jeddah's Al-Haramain Highway, have died over the past 3 days from a
mysterious disease.
Tests have been conducted, but the owner of the sheep is still
waiting for the results. The owner, Saleh Al-Zahrani, said he
approached the Ministry of Agriculture in Jeddah after some of his
animals died. "Veterinarians there told me to bring them samples of
the dead sheep, which I did. The rest of the sheep died during the
3-day period waiting for the test results," Al-Zahrani said. He said
that he buried some of the dead sheep and that others he discarded in
a pool of water in the area.
Director General of Animal Resources at the Ministry of Agriculture's
Jeddah branch Adnan Abdulsalam said a team from the ministry has
taken samples from the dead animals and from living sheep. He could
not say whether the disease was caused by a virus or bacterium until
the test results come back.
[Byline: Hussien Hazzazi]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
[The above newswire does not include information on the total number
of animals in the affected flock, their respective sex, age and
gestation status, presence of animals of other species on the same
premises, clinical signs and their duration, pathological changes,
and the situation in adjacent sheep flocks. Causes of such an event
could be infectious or non-infectious, including intoxications or
physiological disorders (such as pregnancy toxaemia). The above data
and results of the clinical and laboratory investigations are requested.
Floods may sometimes be followed by outbreaks of anthrax, which
deserves to be excluded. A summary on OIE-listed diseases/infections
present in Saudi Arabia (last update: 2008), including sheep
diseases, is available at
<http://www.oie.int/wahis/public.php?page=report_ann_sem&country=SAU&year=20 08&semester=0&aquatic=2&WAHID=1>.
- Mod.AS]
.................................................. ......arn/msp/dk
Comment