Saudi Camels dying

[unpathedhaunt]

Mystery deaths hit Saudi camels
Nearly 2,000 camels have died in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia due to suspected poisoned animal feed.
So far this month 1,982 camels have died. Symptoms include sweating, excitability, vomiting and fainting.

The country's Agriculture Ministry has said tests suggested the deaths were caused by animal feed which was contaminated by insecticide.

Owners have been promised compensation by King Abdullah. Camels are big business in Saudi Arabia.

The animals began dying in the Dawasir Valley south of the capital Riyadh but other camel deaths have been recorded from Mecca to the border of Yemen.

Camels are traded by Bedouin tribes for thousands of dollars each. The animals are used for racing and are also eaten.

Agriculture Minister Fahd Bilghoneim told a news conference: "Veterinary experts say the symptoms indicate cases of poisoning and not an infectious disease, and this accords with what camel owners have said about animal feed they bought."


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6964275.stm

Published: 2007/08/26 00:02:18 GMT

? BBC MMVII

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

UNDIAGNOSED DEATHS, CAMELS - SAUDI ARABIA: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (05)

Date: Tue 28 Aug 2007
Source: The Media Line [edited]
<http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=18786>


The demand for camel meat has decreased in Saudi Arabia since news
spread about the recent deaths of hundreds of camels, the Saudi
online daily Arab News reported. The reason behind the camels' death
has so far not been revealed, but it is suspected that they have died
from eating poisonous fodder.

Butchers selling camel meat and restaurants have expressed concern
that people were increasingly uninterested in buying camel meat, a
popular dish in the Kingdom. "I used to like it and I even used to
buy it daily. Now, however, I prefer to stay away from it to protect
my family's health," Sa'id Asiri, a Saudi citizen, told Arab News.

"Following the news, customers are no longer willing to buy camel
liver," says Abu Muhammad, who owns a shop specializing in camel
meat. Abu Muhammad blames the media, which according to him, "has
exaggerated the whole thing and frightened people" off buying camel products.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[Blaming the media will not remedy the marketing problem. If, more
than 2 weeks after the start of the mass-mortality in camels its
etiology remains obscure, the loss of appetite for camel meat is
justified, to say the least. Accomplished epidemiological and
toxicological investigation and the publication of the results by the
competent authorities, are the recommended means to pacify worried
consumers. And, one might add, to protect public and animal health. - Mod.AS]:tiphat:
http://tinyurl.com/27u7o8

 

[Niko]

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

<table bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="975"><tbody><tr><td background="/imgs/net_10.gif" valign="top" width="18">
</td> <td valign="top"><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" width="100%"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td> <table bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td> Poisoned food kills almost 2,000 camels

</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Posted : Mon, 27 Aug 2007 04:51:43 GMT[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Author : World News Editor[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Almost 2,000 camels have died in Saudi Arabia in the past month due to animal feed that is suspected to have been poisoned.

The country's Agriculture Ministry said tests revealed the feed was contaminated by insecticide, the BBC reported.

Camel owners have been promised compensation from King Abdullah. Camels are often traded for thousands of dollars each and are used for racing and as a source of meat.

The deaths, which have occurred throughout the country, involve symptoms such as vomiting, sweating and excitability, the BBC said.

"Veterinary experts say the symptoms indicate cases of poisoning and not an infectious disease," Agriculture Minister Fahd Bilghoneim told a news conference. "And this accords with what camel owners have said about animal feed they bought."

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/98441.html

[/FONT]

 

[Niko]

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

August 28, 2007 4:02

What is Killing the Saudi Camels?

Posted by Scott MacLeod | Comments (4) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This
<!-- .entryFooter --> <!-- Article Body Start --> The camels sweat, vomit, pass out and die: two weeks after the beloved dromedaries started dropping by the dozen, Saudi officials still haven't been able to come up with a full explanation for their deaths, officially put at 1,982 as of Sunday.

The mystery is the talk of Riyadh. The first reports came from Wadi Dawasir south of the Saudi capital, where more than 1,000 camels in total are reported to have succumbed to the mystery illness. This week, the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that camels have been dying throughout the Kingdom--more than 450 in Mecca, the holy city in western Saudi Arabia, and another 500 or so in the southern provinces of Asir, Najran and Jizan.
A Saudi "CSI" is in full swing. Agriculture Minister Fahd Balghonaim told reporters this week that foul play was among the possibilities under investigation. Experts have largely dismissed any outbreak of disease, focusing instead on tainted feed. Balghonaim believes that the feed was poisoned--perhaps deliberately--after it left a feed production factory and before it reached the camel farmers. Lab tests are being conducted on the feed to determine the type of toxin and where it came from.

Camels, it goes without saying, are a big deal in the desert kingdom. The current camel population is estimated at 850,000. For centuries, they were the primary means of transportation and a symbol of Bedouin tradition.

They continue to be raised in large numbers for racing and shows. Saudis also love camel milk and meat. "Haven't you ever eaten camel?" my friend Ali asked me tonight. "I'll take you to a restaurant that serves camel meat. It's delicious, and low in cholesterol."

Anxious that the Bedouin not become upset by the tragedy, King Abdullah has promised compensation to the owners of the dead camels. But the mystery continues.

--By Scott MacLeod/Riyadh



http://time-blog.com/middle_east/2007/08/what_is_killing_the_saudi_came_1.html?xid=rss-mideast

 

[Treyfish]

Saudi Arabia-Camels,sheep and cattle dying

Saudi Arabia-Camels,sheep and cattle dying

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=556 border=0 valign="top"><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD vAlign=top width=2 bgColor=white> </TD><TD vAlign=top width=554><!-- start: main content --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" summary="" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=left></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE summary=""><TBODY><TR><TD noWrap align=right>Archive Number</TD><TD noWrap align=left>20070830.2861</TD></TR><TR><TD noWrap align=right>Published Date</TD><TD noWrap align=left>30-AUG-2007</TD></TR><TR><TD noWrap align=right>Subject</TD><TD noWrap align=left>PRO/AH/EDR> Undiagnosed deaths, camels - Saudi Arabia: RFI (06)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
UNDIAGNOSED DEATHS, CAMELS - SAUDI ARABIA: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (06)[1]Date: Thu 30 Aug 2007Source: Dailystar, Lebanon, Agence France-Presse (AFP) report [extracted, edited]<http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_ID=10&article_ID=84905&categ_id=2>Saudi Arabia has sent frozen samples of dead camels to France to try to discover why dozens are dying each day, along with cattle and sheep, newspapers said on Wednesday [29 Aug 2007].Al-Watan newspaper said 60 more camels died on Tuesday [28 Aug 2007] as well as 400 sheep and 7 cows. There was no official confirmation of the figures.The camel samples were sent on Tuesday [28 Aug 2007], as Saudi officials came under increasing criticism by owners of herds for not acting more quickly to try to determine ways to tackle the problem.On 25 Aug 2007, some 2 weeks after the beasts began to die, Agriculture Minister Fahd bin Abdel-Rahman Balghnaim said nearly 2000 camels had died. "It is not because of an infectious disease. These were cases of poisoning," the minister was quoted as saying by the SPA state news agency.Balghnaim said the animals were fed bran that had been bought from traders whose bran stocks were contaminated. He put the final number of dead camels in recent weeks at 1982.Laboratory research was being carried out to reveal exactly what was wrong with the animal feed, he said at the time.According to figures in the Saudi press, at least 5000 camels have now died and thousands more are sick. Official figures put the total number of camels in the kingdom in 2005 at 862 000.Just before the camels began to die, newspapers had reported an outbreak of foot-&-mouth disease [FMD] -- which can also affect camels -- in the kingdom. [FMD is generally regarded to be subclinical in camels; its role in the syndrome described above seems most unlikely. - Mod.AS]--Communicated byroMED-mail<promed@promedmail.org>******[2]Date: Thu 30 Aug 2007Source: Arab News [abridged, edited]<http://arabnews.com/?page=1?ion=0&article=100577&d=30&m=8&y=2007&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom>A senior Health Ministry official yesterday [29 Aug 2007] blamed poisonous chemicals for the death of more than 2000 camels in different parts of the country. The official also warned the public against eating the meat of sick camels before determining the reason for the disease in these camels."According to available information the camels died of poisonous chemicals. As the chemicals cannot be removed by cooking, it is dangerous to eat the meat of affected camels," Falah Al-Mazroue, director of preventive medicine at the ministry, told Al-Watan Arabic daily.The Ministry of Agriculture has sent frozen samples of dead camels to France to try to discover the reason for their death.On 25 Aug 2007, some 2 weeks after the animals began to die, Agriculture Minister Fahd Balghnaim said nearly 2000 camels had died. "It is not because of any infectious disease. These were cases of poisoning," the minister told reporters in Riyadh.Balghnaim said the animals were fed bran that had been bought from traders whose bran stocks were contaminated. He put the final number of dead camels in recent weeks at 1982. Laboratory tests were being carried out to reveal exactly what was wrong with the animal feed, he said at the time.According to figures reported in the Saudi press, at least 5000 camels have now died and thousands more are sick.Officials of the Commission for Supervision and Investigation will tour the areas where camel deaths were reported to make a field assessment of the problem and review the measures taken by the Agriculture Ministry to address the situation. "We will take the assistance of experts in testing samples of fodder that was present in the market during the time of camel deaths," the commission said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency. The commission will also check the measures taken by municipalities to dispose of dead camels.The increasing deaths of camels have sent shockwaves among limited income farmers who depend on these animals for their daily bread. In order to compensate their losses, Prince Abdul Rahman, deputy minister of defense and aviation, donated 300 of his camels. Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman, meanwhile, instructed officials to postpone a camel contest in Wadi Al-Dawasser following the death of several camels in the region in recent weeks.[Byline: P.K. Abdul Ghafour]--Communicated byroMED-mail<promed@promedmail.org>[Mass-mortality in camels has been, reportedly, observed in Saudi Arabia since 13 Aug 2007 or earlier. Its etiology, unfortunately still obscure, was initially suspected to be fodder poisoning. The issue has recently led to diminished sales of camel meat in the Kingdom, due to (apparently justifiable) growing consumer concern, since animal breeders -- in Saudi Arabia as elsewhere -- are expected to try get rid of their food-animals before they show signs of disease, be it infectious or otherwise.This is the 1st time cattle and sheep, not only camels, are mentioned in the media as being (possibly) affected. A coincidence? A common fodder source? A common infection?An official statement from the Saudi authorities on the investigations so far and on the consumer-health protection measures undertaken, is anticipated. Any available test results (positive or negative) from laboratories in Saudi Arabia, France, or elsewhere, will be welcomed. - Mod. AS]:tiphat: http://tinyurl.com/yulw3nThis will be merged with the other stories </PRE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></P>

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

What's killing thousands of Saudi camels?
Tainted feed appears to have come from foreign distributors

REBECCA ADDELMAN | September 10, 2007 |


<!--REBECCA ADDELMAN

--><!-- charactor count starts here -->The Bedouins call them Ata Allah -- God's gift. But just as God gave the nomadic peoples of Saudi Arabia camels, so does he take them away. This month, 1,982 of the one-humped dromedaries have dropped dead in the Middle Eastern kingdom, a heavy blow to Bedouins, who sell the animals for thousands of dollars, and to the dairy, meat and racing industries that rely on the beasts.

Panic first struck when 232 camels fell ill -- symptoms included sweating, excitability, vomiting and fainting -- and died within four days in the Dawasir Valley, 400 km south of the capital Riyadh, prompting worry of an infectious disease in the herd. It brought back memories of the late summer of 2000, when Rift Valley fever, a zoonotic disease that causes hemorrhagic fever, spread from camels and goats to over 1,200 human cases in the kingdom, killing 87. Saudi Arabia is also on high alert for signs of avian flu, after the virus was found in a bird in the country in March.

But officials and experts have eliminated the possibility that disease is doing the killing this time. Instead, their guess is foul play. "The symptoms indicate cases of poisoning," said Saudi Arabia's Agriculture Minister Fahd Bilghoneim. Camel disease expert Dr. Ulrich Wernery of the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai agrees: "I think it's a toxin rather than an infectious disease. There are no infectious diseases that can kill hundreds of camels like that. It's impossible."

The source of the toxin, it turns out, is bad feed. The dead camels had all enjoyed a feedstock of bran that was sold to Saudi farmers by non-Saudi distributors. Officials are now eyeing these expatriate third parties as the potential poisoners. So that no Saudi shall feel the sting of loss, King Abdullah has promised compensation for every dead camel. As a result, the bereaved from Riyadh to Mecca are letting the carcasses rot in the sun, afraid to bury them until they get their due.

http://www.macleans.ca/world/global/article.jsp?content=20070910_109147_109147

 

[Niko]

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

Saudi to probe source of toxic camel fodder

1 day ago

RIYADH (AFP) ? Saudi Arabia on Saturday blamed the deaths of thousands of camels on contaminated feed and said it was launching an investigation into the source.

The agriculture ministry said that tests carried out in both Saudi and foreign laboratories had detected toxins in the bran fed to the livestock.

Examination of samples taken from both the fodder and some of the dead animals revealed traces of both aluminium and a poisonous fungus, a ministry statement carried by the official SPA news agency said.

"The agriculture ministry is about to conduct the necessary inquiries, in conjunction with the parties concerned, to determine the source or sources of the poisonous materials," the statement said.

In a country where camel raising is seen as part of the national culture, the ministry has come under mounting pressure as more and more animals have died over the past month.

Saudi media have described the deaths as a "national tragedy" in a desert kingdom which boasted 862,000 camels in 2005.

The first death was recorded in Wadi al-Dawasser, 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of Riyadh.

Two weeks later, Agriculture Minister Fahd bin Abdul Rahman Balghnaim acknowledged that 2,000 animals had died.

That toll has now risen to at least 5,000, according to an AFP count based on press reports, and thousands more animals have become sick.


http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hE_kJD1urlfPCu98SrAeG-yNsg5A

 

[Niko]

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

This article is older than my last post - provides additional details

Saudi sends frozen camel samples to France

Aug 29, 2007


RIYADH (AFP) ? Saudi Arabia has sent frozen samples of dead camels to France to try to discover why dozens are dying each day, along with cattle and sheep, newspapers said on Wednesday.[results please]



Al-Watan newspaper said 60 more camels died on Tuesday as well as 400 sheep and seven cows. There was no official confirmation of the figures.


The camel samples were sent on Tuesday as Saudi officials came under increasing criticism by owners of herds for not acting more quickly to try to determine ways to tackle the problem.


On August 25, some two weeks after the beasts began to die, Agriculture Minister Fahd bin Abdul Rahman Balghnaim said nearly 2,000 camels had died.


"It is not because of an infectious disease. These were cases of poisoning," the minister was quoted as saying by the SPA state news agency.


Balghnaim said the animals were fed bran that had been bought from traders whose bran stocks were contaminated. He put the final number of dead camels in recent weeks at 1,982.


Laboratory research was being carried out to reveal exactly what was wrong with the animal feed, he said at the time.


According to figures in the Saudi press, collated by AFP, at least 5,000 camels have now died and thousands more are sick.


Official figures put the total number of camels in the kingdom in 2005 at 862,000.


Just before the camels began to die, newspapers had reported an outbreak of foot and mouth disease -- aphthous fever, which can also affect camels -- in the kingdom.

Al-Yaum, citing an agriculture ministry official, said colleagues had intercepted "a cargo of 351 sheep, including 336 which were suspected of being affected by aphthous fever, imported from Iran by a breeder.

"The breeder was asked to put the beasts in quarantine to await analysis from a laboratory in Riyadh ... But the stockbreeder sold the 336 animals without awaiting the results."


Another newspaper, the daily al-Madina said the sheep had been brought in via Bahrain which is linked to Saudi Arabia by a causeway.


http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gniAWNXTnYbuyvG-2wgQjV3ZR43w

 

[Niko]

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

Re: Saudi Camels suspected poisoning

ProMed comments on previously posted articles:


Archive Number 20070910.2995
Published Date 10-SEP-2007
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Undiagnosed deaths, camels - Saudi Arabia: Salinomycin suspected

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[I am uncertain that camels are highly allergic, as the article
states, but I do know that camels are as sensitive to ionophores as
horses are. It is quite simply, very toxic to most camelids, which
includes the alpacas mentioned in my colleague's comment [see below].

Many of the Aspergillus species can produce a variety of mycotoxins.
The article does not tell us the level that was found in the fodder
samples. Neither does it tell us the level of aluminum.

My strongest impression is that the salinomycin is responsible for
the deaths. However, salinomycin is more often added to grain
mixtures than fodder. And the deaths may be related to a combination
of all of these factors over perhaps a few days to a month.

What is difficult is to follow the ministries direction and purchase
new feed, when the source of the feed is unknown. Since the source is
unknown, the distribution may also be unknown so how is one to
purchase clean food for the animals? - Mod.TG].

[Salinomycin is an ionophore coccidiostat with a broad spectrum of
efficiency, closely related to monensin. It is known to cause
myopathy leading to cardiac failure and death in various domestic
animals when fed in toxic levels; serious toxicity has been
documented in cattle, sheep, pigs, turkeys and others. As underlined
above by Mod.TG, camelids are particularly susceptible. A mass
intoxication event of alpacas, fed with varying amounts of a
commercial feed to which salinomycin had been accidentally added at
the poultry feed rate, 66 ppm, was documented in the USA in 2003. Out
of about 1000 animals involved, 250 alpacas displayed clinical signs
and 135 died (see: Kosal and Anderson, J. Anim. Sci., 2004, 82:
3394-3400, free at
<http://jas.fass.org/cgi/reprint/82/11/3394>).

According to the said paper, estimates of salinomycin intake were
determined to be between 0.5 and 1.5 mg/kg of BW consumed by those
displaying clinical signs (estimated overall feed intake was 0.227 to
0.454 kg per animal daily).

It will be interesting to compare the above toxicity and the
clinico-pathological observed in the alpacas with the available
recordings from the exposed and affected Saudi Arabian camels.

More details on the control upon fodder supply, supplements and
animal medication in Saudi Arabia, and on the steps undertaken to
remedy the situation as reflected during this unfortunate, overly
extended event, are anticipated from the Saudi authorities.

Public health aspects of salinomycin in edible tissues should not be
neglected. Paradoxically, the more toxic the substance is to a food
animal species, the less likely it will be able to breach the
permitted maximum residual levels (MRL) in animal tissue for human consumption.

Australia has recently published updated MRLs (mg/kg) for salinomycin
in tissues of some mammal species, as follows:
Cattle, edible offal: 0.5;
Cattle, meat: 0.05;
Pig, edible offal: 0.1;
Pig, meat: 0.1.

Further details:
<http://www.apvma.gov.au/residues/downloads/table01.pdf>. Detailed
results from the laboratories involved will be helpful. Conclusions
and lessons will be useful for many a country. - Mod.AS]

[see also:
Undiagnosed deaths, camels - Saudi Arabia: RFI (06) 20070830.2861
Undiagnosed deaths, camels - Saudi Arabia: RFI (05) 20070828.2819
Undiagnosed deaths, camels - Saudi Arabia: RFI (04) 20070817.2698
Undiagnosed deaths, camels - Saudi Arabia: RFI (03) 20070815.2664
Undiagnosed deaths, camels - Saudi Arabia: RFI (02) 20070814.2659
Undiagnosed deaths, camels - Saudi Arabia: RFI 20070813.2645
1996