Awareness lecture in Nineveh on foot-and-mouth disease prevention as outbreak spreads

NINEVEH – The Veterinary Hospital of Nineveh hosted an awareness lecture Wednesday for local livestock owners to explain the causes, symptoms, and prevention methods of foot-and-mouth disease. Officials assured attendees that losses in the governorate have been minimal and that most infected animals are recovering.

This local initiative comes on the heels of a Tuesday announcement by Iraq’s Ministry of Agriculture reporting that 654 buffalo and cattle have died from the disease. Despite the toll, ministry officials maintained that the mortality rate remains within acceptable limits.

Omar Al-Hayali, director of Nineveh’s veterinary department, told 964media that the hospital’s campaign aimed to discuss the disease comprehensively. “A large number of livestock owners attended, and we discussed key issues with them. We are fully prepared to cooperate with farmers to protect livestock,” he said.

Al-Hayali noted that the campaign is part of an ongoing coordination effort among the Ministry of Agriculture, the local veterinary department, and Nineveh authorities. Preventive measures will remain in place for 15 days, during which an operations room is actively monitoring the situation. “We will continue surveillance and investigations for as long as necessary,” he added.

While acknowledging that foot-and-mouth disease is endemic and can appear annually with mild symptoms in many animals, Al-Hayali stressed that precise figures on livestock losses in Nineveh have not yet been determined. “So far, we do not have precise figures on livestock losses in Nineveh, but there are no major losses. Most infected animals had mild symptoms and are recovering,” he said.

The lecture also comes as Iraq’s Agriculture Minister Abbas Jabr reassured the public at a Baghdad press conference that foot-and-mouth disease cannot be transmitted to humans through meat or dairy products. Jabr emphasized that vaccines and medications are provided free of charge and dismissed reports of human infection as unfounded rumors.

Ridwan Othman, a livestock owner in Hawi Al-Josaq, Mosul, told 964media that the situation remains stable in his area. “Right now, everything is fine. We have no buffalo infections in our area. The disease is not present here, and many veterinarians have visited to check and vaccinate the animals,” Othman said. He added that while the disease is recognizable when animals have difficulty walking, there are no current restrictions on slaughter or milk production.

Foot-and-mouth disease, a severe and highly contagious viral illness, primarily affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs.

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