Agriculture Ministry mulls establishment of 4 veterinary quarantines on borders

CAIRO – 10 April 2017: The Ministry of Agriculture is considering the establishment of four veterinary quarantines on Egypt’s borders, said head of the ministry’s central administration for veterinary quarantine, Dr. Ahmed Abdel Kareem said in a statement.

The quarantines will be used to check imported animals in remote areas away from residential units; in accordance with animal quarantine laws, Dr. Abdel Kareem said.

The General Organization for Veterinary Services (GOVS) tightens measures on importing animals and checking them in veterinary quarantines across the country, he added.

The GOVS’ supervisory role is not only confined to checking imported animal products such as meat, fish, chicken and dairy products, but it extends to examining imported animals, Abdel Kareem noted.

The Egyptian veterinary committees members travel abroad to check animals in their countries of origin taking at least 21 days, he said.

If approved, he went on to say, the imported animals stay for a week in quarantine to be tested to make sure they are free of diseases that could ban them from being sold in markets.

Last week, a shipment of 3,500 camels from Sudan was stopped at Abu Simbel quarantine in southern Egypt after finding 69 of them tested positive for Coronavirus virus (MERS-CoV), the Ministry of Agriculture said.