Smuggled Livestock Transmit Rift Valley...
Added On : 20th May 2010
Smuggled Livestock Transmit Rift Valley Fever in Jizan
JIZAN Medical experts here believe that the potentially deadly Rift Valley Fever (RVF) was brought into Jizan by a sheep smuggled from Yemen.
Three weeks ago a medical examination showed that one man had contracted RVF.
The discovery of the case has set off alarm bells. The animal had clearly bypassed the Kingdoms checkpoints where animals are checked for diseases. It is now clear that the smugglers are getting animals through on the border of the two countries.
It appears they use deserted, mountainous back roads to bring the diseased livestock into the Kingdom. The smuggled animals are then placed together with Saudi
livestock.
The smuggling is likely taking place from the Yemeni town of Hart, bordering the Kingdom.
It is considered a central point for the smuggling of sheep into the Kingdom. There also appears to be a lack of quarantine at the Al-Tawaal checkpoint.
There is currently a ban on the importation of sheep from Yemen, which has contributed to smuggling operations.
Muhammad Sheraim, Director General of Agriculture in Jizan, said the regional Emir Prince Muhammad Bin Nasser Bin Abdul Aziz has ordered all the service agencies, including agriculture, health and the mayoralty to strictly monitor all incoming animals to make sure they are fit for human consumption.
He said the agencies have been applying strict precautionary measures. This is why there has only been one case of RVF reported over the last 10 years.
He said the recent case of RVF has resulted in greater efforts to prevent the spread of the viral disease in the region.
He said spraying operations has been intensified, especially in areas which serve as breeding grounds for the transmission of the disease.
He said his administration has succeeded in tightening control at the border. It has so far prevented 7,118 heads of sheep to be smuggled into the Kingdom over the past three months.
Dr. Mohsen Tebaqi, Director General of the Directorate of Health Affairs in Jizan, said the directorate has also instituted a package of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of dengue fever.
So far 156 cases of dengue fever have been reported all over the region. Okaz/SG
Taha Tawashi - Saudi Gazette
