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Türkiye's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry ordered the immediate closure of all animal markets nationwide due to a surge in foot-and-mouth disease cases following increased livestock movement during the Eid al-Adha celebrations.
The General Directorate of Food and Control issued an urgent directive to agricultural and forestry provincial directorates in all 81 provinces, citing the rapid spread of the highly contagious disease.
In the official notice signed by General Director Ersin Diler and marked "urgent," authorities reported detecting genetic and antigenic changes in virus samples collected from infected animals.
"Genetic/antigenic changes have been detected in studies conducted on foot-and-mouth disease viruses from samples taken from sick animals," the directive stated.
The ministry confirmed that production of protective vaccines against these new virus strains has been completed and field deployment has begun. However, officials acknowledged that vaccinating all cloven-hoofed animals susceptible to the disease in a short period is not feasible.
According to the ministry's statement, authorities have already implemented several containment measures in affected areas:
The directive emphasized that restricting animal movements in high-risk areas is more effective than vaccination alone in controlling the disease spread.
"It is known by the entire public that restricting animal movements in risky areas is a more effective method than vaccination," the notice stated.
The closure order applies to all animal trading locations, including:
The ministry cited the high volume of animal and visitor traffic at these venues as posing a significant risk for disease transmission.
"The intense movement of animals and visitors at animal sales locations will create a high risk for the spread of the disease," the directive explained, ordering that "all animal sales locations operating in your province be closed immediately until further notice."
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