Via IRIN Middle East: EGYPT: Livestock disease puts livelihoods, food security at risk. Excerpt:
A new strain of foot-and-mouth disease in Egypt has killed several thousand livestock, put farmers’ livelihoods at risk and could threaten regional food security, say local and international experts.
“Urgent action is required to control a major outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease and prevent its spread throughout North Africa and the Middle East, which could have serious implications for food security in the region,” the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on 22 March.
“If the virus kills more cattle, there will be more economic suffering for a large number of people,” said Mohamed Al Falw, a veterinary officer in Sawaris village, in the Greater Cairo governorate of Qallubia. “The government cannot just keep talking and leave these farmers to face this tragedy on their own.”
