JEDDAH: Al-Ahsa municipality has banned more than 120 heads of cattle from the cattle market.
The decision comes days after a ban on the movement of cows in the province following the monitoring of a viral infection called the lumpy skin disease (LSD).
The follow-up committee consisting of the market administration, the central slaughterhouse and the agriculture directorate prevented the trucks loaded with cows from entering the central cattle market. During the holy month of Ramadan, the consumption of beef normally increases.
Ibrahim Al-Shabith, the director of the environmental health department at Al-Ahsa municipality, explained that the disease was not transmittable from animals to humans but the problem was with the animals themselves.
“The slaughter of cows will be limited to the Omran slaughterhouse in coordination with the agriculture directorate to avoid transmission of the virus,” said Al-Shabith.
The ban will continue after Ramadan, he added.
A veterinarian team of the Ministry of Agriculture and the municipality will be at the gate to the market.
Al-Shabith said the cattle breeders should remain in their locations and register their data to follow up on infections on their farms, and to immunize the cattle to prevent infection.
The agriculture directorate assigned veterinary teams to spray the farms and barns with pesticides in order to eradicate the virus.
Al-Ahsa municipality bans cows from cattle market
Al-Ahsa municipality bans cows from cattle market
