Yemen Observer: http://www.yobserver.com
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Written By: Mohammed al-Kibsi
Article Date: Feb 24, 2008 - 12:13:23 AM
A fatal disease has been spreading in the northern and western governorates of Yemen during the past few weeks.
The general manager of the livestock department at the Ministry of Culture, Ghaleb al-Eryani, said that citizens from Sada’a and Hajja governorates have complained of a fatal disease infecting animals in their districts.
“A team of veterinarians investigated the complaints and found that the disease was Myiasis,” said al-Eryani.
Myiasis is a disease caused by parasitic dipterous fly larvae feeding on a host’s dead or living tissue, and is a common disease in sheep, especially in areas where there are hot and wet conditions. It is also known as Blowfly strike.
It is believed that the affliction commonly referred to as screwworm disease appeared in Iraq
in 1995 from where it spread to Saudi Arabia and later Oman.
According to al-Eryani, the first appearance of Yemen’s disease was in the al-Thahir area of Sada’a governorate, adjacent to the Saudi border last December, indicating that the disease came to Yemen via Saudi Arabia and linking it to screwworm.
An official governmental source has denied the spread of the screwworm disease in Yemen, saying it is Myiasis, and not screwworm.
However, scientifically screwworm is classified as an exotic myiasis. It is also a reportable disease. This reportable classification suggests the participation of international organizations to combat the disease, knowing that Yemeni officials may not realize what they are dealing with.
Al-Eryani confirmed that additional teams were dispatched to the two governorates to combat the disease this week, and that a plan was being prepared to be presented to the cabinet ministers to allocate funds and to communicate with international organizations to ask for their help in fighting and eradicating the problem.
“Fighting the screwworm disease that has already spread to three governorates in the country is beyond the hands of the Yemeni government, taking into account that Libya spent more than $560 million when the screwworm hit their country in the 1980s,” said al-Eryani.
Due to the war in the Sada’a governorate last year, it has been difficult to follow the path of the disease in Yemen, but more than 15,353 infected cases in animals and three humans were discovered in the governorates of Sada’a, Hajja and Hodeidah.
Meanwhile, the cabinet ministers in their meeting last Tuesday discussed the problem and heard reports from the ministers of agriculture and public health about the situations in the infected areas and ways of combating the disease. The cabinet assigned the ministries of agriculture and public health and population the task of combatting the disease before it spreads into other governorates and districts and becomes a plague.
Female flies lay their eggs on sheep or other host animal in damp, protected areas often soiled with urine and faeces. It takes 8 hours to a day for the eggs to hatch, depending on the conditions. This results in sores as the larvae lacerate the skin, then tunnel into the host’s tissue causing irritating lesions. After about the second day bacterial infection occurs and if left untreated causes toxemia or septicemia. This leads to anorexia and weakness and if untreated will lead to death. Blowfly strike accounts for over $170 million a year in losses in the Australian sheep industry and so prevention measures such as the early removal of lamb’s tails are practiced.
Myiasis can also affect humans.