Anthrax traces found in dead Australian sheep

Authorities have found traces of Anthrax virus in the bodies of the dead Australian sheep found at a private farm near Karachi on Thursday, as the culling of 21,000 infected Australian sheep continues.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Today has learnt that the Animal Quarantine Department of the Ministry of National Food Security played a key role in allowing entry to the diseased animals.
According to well-placed sources, officials in the Animal Quarantine Department also used their influence to contradict the Sindh government’s laboratory report that pointed out the presence of infectious bacteria and the Orf virus. Interestingly, the department also made efforts to allow the traders involved to sell the infected sheep’s meat in the local market, sources said.
Around 75,000 sheep left Australia on Fremantle-based Wellard Rural Exports’ ship Ocean Drover for Middle East. About 53,000 sheep were offloaded in Qatar and Oman, while the remaining 22,000 were to be offloaded in Bahrain; however, when the ship arrived reached the port on August 29, it was asked by the Bahraini authorities to leave its berth until matters were resolved. Taking advantage of the situation, the Animal Quarantine Department issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) back-dated August 24, 2012, besides releasing a health certificate to the owner of PK Livestock and Meat, Tariq Mehmood Butt, who imported the sheep on September 1, 2012, sources disclosed. When the Australian vessel arrived at Port Qasim, the infected sheep were immediately offloaded and kept at a private farm at Razzakabad. However, the whole episode of bringing the infected animals to the local market went down the drain when Sindh Livestock and Fisheries Department’s experts, who were doubtful of the sheep’s health, collected samples and submitted it to Islamabad-based NVL laboratory for proper medical verification on September 8, 2012.
The Sindh Livestock and Fisheries Department also forwarded the samples to the Tandojam Central Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which certified that the sheep carried foot-and-mouth disease, in addition to bacterial infection as had been indicated earlier in a laboratory report by the Sindh Poultry Vaccine Center. Besides, the Sindh Poultry Vaccine Center’s tests had found the presence of salmonella and actinomyces bacteria in 100 percent samples from the Merino sheep. Of all the samples, 44 percent tested positive for E coli. The oral swabs were found positive for highly contagious actinomyces, which is responsible for causing lumpy jaw disease in sheep.
E coli and salmonella bacteria may cause food poisoning and dysentery in humans if the meat of infected animal is consumed.
“The reports of our laboratories are important since we are the ones who are going to face the health and environmental consequences if these animals are allowed to be slaughtered and consumed,” Livestock and Fisheries Secretary Abid Ali Shah told Pakistan Today.
Furthermore, in this regard, the Animal Husbandary Commissioner Dr Khurshid Ahmed has forwarded a letter No Dy 1601/AHC-2012 to the secretary of the Livestock and Fisheries Department, Government of Sindh, encouraging the departments’ efforts in dealing the infected sheep.