MAKKAH, 4 January — Health authorities in Makkah have said the laboratory tests revealed the envelope containing a suspicious white powder found in a school in Makkah on Tuesday did not contain any anthrax germs.
In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency, Dr. Khaled ibn Abdul Aziz Yaseen, coordinator of field medicine in Makkah and the Holy Sites, said all precautionary steps were taken after the report about the envelope was received. The suspicious substance was immediately sent to the regional laboratory in Jeddah for tests and was found not to contain any hazardous substance, SPA quoted the official as saying.
In another development, cattle breeders in Baish in the Southern Province of Jizan have expressed their concern about the outbreak of a new disease among their animals just as the deadly Rift Valley Fever, which killed thousands of cattle in the southern parts of the Kingdom, disappears, Okaz reported yesterday.
The new disease was first noticed in Al-Motan village five kilometers to the north of Baish, where more than 150 cattle died. Ayyash Faris, who lost 80 sheep, said the disease began to spread in the village in November despite vaccination against RVF.
On receiving reports about the new disease, a veterinary team from the Ministry of Agriculture and Water visited the area and took samples from sick animals for further checks.
