Over two hundred buffalo have died in a village south of Kirkuk province while the buffalo breeders think the cause of their deaths is contamination of the Khasa River with waste from livestock slaughterhouses.
The buffalo, belonging to two breeders, died within 18 days in the village of Haj Hussein, south of Kirkuk. The breeders have appealed to the government for assistance.
Abu Abdullah, a buffalo breeder, told KirkukNow, "One hundred of my buffalo have died. This is the first time such a large number of buffalo have died at once. We suspect the cause lies in the water that runs through our village and is used by the buffaloes to drink."
The water source that runs through the village is the Khasa River. Abu Abdullah said, "The water source is polluted due to waste from the large Kirkuk slaughterhouse, from which the buffaloes drink."
The slaughterhouse is government-owned but privately run. Waste from the slaughterhouse mixes with the water from the Khasa River through pipes.
Farhan al-Ta'i, a buffalo breeder in the village, who also lost a number of his buffalo, said, "We demand that the government find a solution as soon as possible and investigate the causes of the buffalo deaths, so that our losses do not increase."
The livelihood of the village's 27 families is based on raising buffalo and cows.
According to the breeder, infected buffalo initially lose the ability to stand and walk, before losing the ability to eat and their tongues become heavy.
Haj Hussein village is part of the Taza Khurmatu sub-district and lies on the Khasa River, south of Kirkuk.
Following the deaths of such a large number of buffaloes, the Kirkuk Veterinary Department announced on April 19 that it had formed a committee to investigate the incident in an effort to uncover the causes. The committee has yet to announce any results.
The Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture considers foot-and-mouth FMD disease a seasonal epidemic that mutates under environmental influence and threatens the country's animal resources.
The ministry says that over 3,000 buffalo died in 2 days in February due to the epidemic.
