Benghazi, 2 March 2012:
Animal livestock markets in and around Benghazi have been closed following reports that foot-and-mouth diease (FMD) has spread surrounding areas.
The . . .[restrict]closure was ordered by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Samples from cattle suspected of being infected have been sent for analysis to research centres.
FMD was first diagnosed in December in Zawia, in the west of the country, from where it then seems to have spread to 12 farms around Misrata, Zlitan and Homs.
Unlike in some countries where mass slaughter of infected herds in the usual means of control, Libya has opted for mass vaccination.
At the beginning of February, the UN’s Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health, report that more than 44,250 sheep and goats and over 9,100 cattle had been inoculated at farms in and around the four towns.
The fact that FMD now appears to have spread to the east of the country suggest that vaccination has not worked.
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