Muscat: Oman’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has raised the level of preventive measures to limit the spread of the Crimean — Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in some livestock farms.
The ministry’s new measures include that an Omani national can import only ten heads of livestock per month for slaughtering purpose, with not more than two heads of cattle at a time.
The measures also prohibit Omani nationals from importing livestock for breeding in his or her farm.
Moreover, the ministry asked all importing livestock agencies to adhere to the conditions required for the import of live animals.
The ministry also activated the internal quarantine measures in farms that are suspected to have sold animals infected with CCHF. These farms are banned from selling or buying animals until the risks of CCHF are gone.
On Monday, the ministry denied rumours on social media that results of medical tests at livestock farms in Ibra province showed tick-borne infections.
Last week, Omani authorities issued a warning to residents against slaughtering livestock infected with 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 in an advanced stage of the disease.
In February, an Omani died of the disease in Buraimi province, the ministry 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.
