Muscat: The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has denied rumours on social media that results of medical tests at livestock farms in Ibra province showed tick-borne infections.
The ministry also said the samples have not been sent to laboratory outside the country for test.
“All the samples will be examined in the ministry’s laboratories, which are equipped with the latest technology and has the capacity and competencies for the diagnosis,” said the ministry statement.
The ministry pointed out that it has coordinated with the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources to quarantine a number of livestock pens in Ibra province as a precautionary measures against the possibility of contracting the Crimean — Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF).
Omani authorities have issued a warning to residents against slaughtering livestock infected with the diseases in North and South Sharqiyah provinces.
The warning came after two persons died of CCHF last week in South and North Sharqiyah after they went to hospitals with advanced stages of disease.
In February, an Omani died of the disease in Buraimi province, the Ministry of Health said.
The man caught the fever after he bought goats from a commercial livestock farm in Buraimi, a ministry statement said.
Crimean — Congo Haemorrhagic Fever has claimed five lives in 2016 so far.
In 2015, the Omani authorities had reported 20 cases, and 20 per cent of the patients died. The first case was reported in Oman in 1995.
