Dozens of camels die in UAE central region

Livestock owners in the UAE’s Central Region fear the outbreak of an unknown virus, following the death of dozens of camels, the Arabic daily ‘Emarat Al Youm’ has reported.

Camel owners say this has caused them considerable financial damage and pushed them to go to expensive private veterinary clinics.

According to Musapah Bel Ajeed Al Ketbi, member of the National Council for the Central Region, about 200 camels had died in the past few weeks.

Al Ketbi told ‘Emarat Al Youm’ that the deaths of camel started in livestock breeding centres in the Central Region and spread to neighbouring Emirates.

An owner of breeding camels had lost two animals in the last two days, each worth about Dh200,000. Municipal vehicles have been carrying six dead camels per day for the past few weeks, he added.

Al Ketbi submitted a query to the Minister of Environment and Water, seeking reasons for the deaths of more than 200 camels in the Central Region and some areas of Dubai and Al Ain.

But  Saif Al Shara’a said  the ministry had not received any complaints from the camel breeders about mass deaths except for individual cases as a result of common diseases.

Al Shara’a added that the ministry had sent a medical team to the Central Region to investigate the matter after receiving Al Ketbi’s query .

Meanwhile, Mohammed Rashid, owner of a farm of racing camels in the Central Region, confirmed the spread of high fever among his animals, especially racing camels, since the beginning of March. He added that the problem continues, resulting in the death of a large number of expensive racing camels.

He said five racing camels on his farm had been hit by fever. One of them, treated with traditional medicine, survived while the other four perished in spite of veterinary drugs.

Mohammed Rashid  added that the first symptoms appear in the form of high fever after which the camels don’t  eat any food. Then they suffer from severe diarrhea and die in three or four days.

In emergencies, the camels are taken to expensive veterinary clinics that charge Dh1,000 per visit.

Mohair Saeed Al Ketbi, a camel breeder, said most camel breeders take precautionary measures by isolating infected animals, though this did not always prove helpful.

Al Ketbi urged the Ministry of Environment and Water to arrange a medical team to treat the fever that has spread among camels and take preventive measures to protect non-infected animals.

Mubarak Obaid Al Ketbi stressed the need for good veterinary services. He noted that the fever had forced the breeders to pay a lot of money to transport camels to places outside the infected places in an attempt to control the situation.

The transporting of the animals and water and fodder costs the owners of camel farms as much as Dh20,000 per day, he added.

Sultan Nasser Al Ka’abi, a farm owner, stressed the need for a team of government veterinarians and specialists in the treatment of fever.  The services of Ministry of Environment vets are limited at present, he added.

Many camel owners resort to alternative medicine to reduce their losses, he added.


 

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