Iran has brought foot-and-mouth disease under control but lacks enough vaccine to ensure the containment of the disease, veterinary officials said in Wednesday's press. "The principal measures are vaccinations, quarantine and notably health checks on the animals," the Head of Iran's veterinary organization Abbasali Motalebi, was cited by the Ettelaat paper as saying.
But he added that Iran did not have enough vaccine on hand to guarantee an "effective" containment of the epidemic, which has provoked livestock quarantines across Europe.
"Iran currently produces 15 million doses of the vaccine while we need 50 million to assure a nationwide vaccination," Motalebi said, adding that the government has decided to import some two million doses.
He said the 150 cases of the disease diagnosed thus far, in three different locations in the Damqan region southeast of Tehran, were endemic and that no new forms of the malady had been brought into the country.
Iran and Turkey are working with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to identify further cases and produce vaccines, he said.
Britain, source of the foot-and-mouth scourge, has banned all livestock movements, quarantined farms, country parks and zoos, cancelled sporting events and slaughtered 45,000 animals in a bid to contain the disease.
Tehran's conservative English-language Kayhan International daily said Wednesday, March 7, that authorities should take further precautions. "As we have British Airways flights to this country, we too should take all measures for (disinfecting) passengers arriving here from the United Kingdom," it suggested.
Iran imports beef from Australia and South America. Before last year's mad-cow disease epidemic, the country also imported large amounts of cattle from France and Ireland. Tehran banned all beef imports from Europe after the mad-cow outbreak. — (AFP, Tehran)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
