Czech Republic firefighters join Slovakia’s fight against foot-and-mouth outbreak

Prague: The Czech Republic dispatched a team of 16 firefighters to neighbouring Slovakia to assist in efforts to contain the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

According to the Czech Fire and Rescue Service, the firefighters will support their Slovak colleagues with decontamination operations as part of the emergency response.

The Slovak government declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after confirming additional FMD cases at a fourth farm. The latest case was identified in the Dunajska Streda district, near the previously affected southern villages of Medvedov, Narad, and Baka, where the disease was first confirmed last Friday.

In response to the outbreak, the Czech Republic last week reinstated border controls with Slovakia. Czech police and veterinary inspectors are enforcing a ban on livestock imports from affected areas at four major border crossings.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral illness that primarily affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats. It causes fever, loss of appetite, excessive salivation, and blisters on the mouth and feet, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the Czech Republic, the disease was last detected in 1975.

According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a severe, highly contagious viral disease of livestock that has a significant economic impact. The disease affects cattle, swine, sheep, goats and other cloven-hoofed ruminants.

It is a transboundary animal disease (TAD) that deeply affects the production of livestock and disrupts regional and international trade in animals and animal products. Members that are currently free of FMD without vaccination remain under constant threat of an incursion. FMD is caused by an Aphthovirus of the family Picornaviridae.

There are seven viral serotypes (A, O, C, SAT1, SAT2, SAT3, and Asia1). FMDV serotype C has not been isolated by the network of WOAH/FAO Reference Laboratories for FMD since 2004, and no serotype C events have been reported to WOAH since then.

The remaining serotypes are present in different countries and territories worldwide. Each serotype requires a specific vaccine to provide immunity to a vaccinated animal.

The prevention of FMD is dependent on the presence of early detection and warning systems and the implementation of effective surveillance among other measures.

–IANS