A sheep’s plague epidemic has hit the flocks of Bedouin shepherds in the northern Palestinian Jordan Valley. A new outbreak of Rinderpest among the cattle herds at En Al Hilwa.
In the past month, the sheep’s plague has spread speedily and caused many deaths, especially of newborn lambs. 80 deaths were recorded in B.’s flock at Makhoul, mainly lambs. The disease was diagnosed only on December 26 or 27, after an Israeli veterinarian volunteered to come to the area with Nurit, and he sent a sample to the Israeli Veterinary Institute. At the same time, apparently, the Palestinian Veterinary Institute in Ramallah also received a sample, but this was not reported. The spread of the epidemic in the northern Palestinian Jordan Valley is not known, nor the number of sheep that have died. The disease was stopped so far in the flocks owned by the people we know, probably thanks to the inoculation that the flock received.
The Palestinian Veterinary Service at Toubas, which supervises the flocks in the region, did inoculate flocks, but not all of them. The reason, as I understood it, was that they ran out of vaccine. I turned to the director of the Israeli Veterinary Service, Dr. Tamir Goshen, and he answered that the flocks belonging to Israeli settler-colonists in the Palestinian Jordan Valley have not been inoculated because Israel does not require compulsory inoculation against the plague. It is not known that they have the plague. From the internet I gathered that Israel has not seen such plague since 2006, and thus the Veterinary Service does not inoculate against it. I also learned that inoculation of the Palestinian livestock is the responsibility of the PA. I will contact him again. I spoke with the agriculture official at the Israeli DCO in Beit El and he said this subject is not in their hands.
Lately we have been told that calves have been dying in herds at En al Hilwa. Their disease is not yet diagnosed.
This problem, on top of the drought, (the region has not yet seen any significant rainfall this winter) and the home demolition orders – all threaten the Palestinian shepherd communities in the Jordan Valley.
The carcasses of lambs which were reported and photographed by Nurit on December 22, 2017, were removed a week later.
On December 22, 2017, Nurit reported seeing carcasses of lambs strewn next to the spring around Ein al Hilwa, probably by Israeli settler-colonists. The stench was already unbearable, meaning they were not “fresh”. On the next day, more lamb carcasses were found near Road 90, close to the Brosh settlement. I called the Jericho DCO and they wouldn’t discuss the subject and recommended I phone “Public Relations”. No answer. I called the agriculture official at Beit El DCO, and they removed the carcasses last Friday after a whole week (even though “this is not within their jurisdiction”).
It’s depressing to realize that Occupation bureaucracy does not manage – or is too slow – to solve this problem of disease in the Palestinian flocks of the Jordan Valley. It happens nearly every winter, its impact varying. The livestock is a sole source of income at a region that has absolutely no welfare services. High mortality can ruin a family. Whoever has not enough means to purchase food for his family and flock has no one to turn to. The Human Rights organizations active in the Palestinian Jordan Valley try to fill this void as well, among their other functions – simply because there is no other option.
At Hamra Checkpoint, there were vehicle inspections at 11:50. For some reason, this took place only in cars headed for Area A. No inspections were observed at Zaatara and Maale Efrayim Checkpoints.