Outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease ravages livestock in Libya

Cattle farmers in Libya are struggling to keep their livestock amid an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, according to the AFP. 

"From 742 cows, we lost about 300. This disease is destroying our livelihoods,” Najmeddine Tantoun, a farmer from western Libya who raises cattle near the city of Misrata told the AFP.

Libya’s agricultural ministry says one of the main causes of the outbreak is the illegal importation of animals without veterinary control. 

Tantoun and other farmers say they have yet to receive the vaccines needed to protect their animals from the highly contagious disease. 

The area around Misrata is a major milk producing region which usually has an output of 70,000 liters of milk per day. Daily output has now fallen to 20,000 liters, according to Salem al-Badri, head of the city’s cattle farming committee. 

Farmers say emergency vaccination plans that were rolled out with help from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization were implemented too late. 

"The delay in vaccines has cost us dearly," al-Badri told the AFP. "Most of the cows in Misrata are now infected and we have no choice but to slaughter them to stop the epidemic."

Al-Badri said a group of cattle farmers have filed a lawsuit with the attorney general.