A community based intervention to control SAT2 virus producing Foot and Mouth disease in animals in Egypt in 2012

A study in Egypt during June 2012-August 2013 revealed that there were a disastrous out break of foot and mouth disease where SAT2 strain have been identified as the main reason for its occurrence. Trained and untrained persons routinely perform uncontrolled treatments leading to sever economic losses. The present paper represents an intervention that was developed to empower the community to combat foot and mouth disease in Egypt. In a rural district of Egypt (Aja) with a livestock population of approximately 41000 a multipronged approach was used in 2012 to improve combating foot and mouth disease in Egypt. The focus of the intervention was the community. The organization of interventions was also carefully planned. A base line assessment (n=300) was conducted prior to intervention. The intervention comprised large scale gathering of the community (males and females) across the district. Smaller gatherings included teachers, sheikh of mosques and the training untrained persons. The Egyptian Television channels were used to broadcast messages recorded by prominent figures in the local language. The local FM channel and everyday newspaper were also used to disseminate messages on foot and mouth disease control. The interventions resulted in improving the ways of treatment and control of foot and mouth disease in Egypt.