Nearly 2,000 camels die in Saudi Arabia

[Zainab_M]

The following is really a sad story.  But I wonder how much the Saudis will do to ensure that the camel feed in their country is safe. 


RIYADH (Reuters) - Nearly 2,000 camels have died in Saudi Arabia from a mystery illness that first appeared two weeks ago, the government said on Saturday, adding that poisoning was a more likely cause than infectious disease.

Authorities have been on the lookout for signs of foot-and- mouth disease over the last year.

"Veterinary experts say the symptoms indicate cases of poisoning and not an infectious disease, and this accords with what camel owners have said about animal feed they bought," Agriculture Minister Fahd Bilghoneim told a news conference.

Camels began dying in the Dawasir Valley south of Riyadh earlier this month. Bilghoneim said 1,982 camels had since died.

Deaths have been recorded in the far south of the vast desert kingdom, from Mecca to the border of Yemen.

King Abdullah promised compensation for owners after the government said last week that 232 camels had died in the space of four days in the Dawasir Valley.

The Agriculture Ministry blamed the deaths on animal feed supplied by food storage authorities. Bilghoneim said tests showed signs of poisoning from insecticides.

Symptoms of the illness include sweating, excitability, loss of balance, vomiting and fainting.

Camels are big business in the desert kingdom and are traded by Bedouin tribes for thousands of dollars each.

Yahoo! News   (link no longer available)

[Ruhi_Rose]

When such an incident happened in the West, the feed would at once be called off the shelves.  But with the sort of ignorance and apathy that exists in those parts of the world, both among the farmers and the Ministry of Agriculture, they wouldn't even know how to start taking the precautionary steps.