Unknown disease killing Iraqi cattle

NASIRIYAH, Iraq, June 23 (UPI) -- An unidentified disease is spreading through Iraq's cattle population, killing scores of cows and buffalo in the nation's southern marshlands, officials said.

Khalid Ali Moussa with the environment ministry in southeastern Missan province said there is a lack of oversight from Baghdad regarding water contamination.

"We can't send our employees all over the marshlands to check on contamination levels for security reasons. Environmental awareness is low, meaning there is reckless dumping of waste material in the marshlands," he told the United Nations' humanitarian reporting agency, IRIN, Monday.

An estimated 200 cows and buffalo succumbed to the disease since April. Mohammed Arif Mohamed, a veterinarian in southern Dhi Qar province, said the symptoms are similar to hoof-and-mouth disease and a local strain of fever known to infect cattle.

"We call upon the Iraqi government and the Ministry of Agriculture to declare a state of emergency in the marshlands, as we can't determine the disease which has been affecting cattle since April," he said.

Saddam Hussein drained most of the southern marshlands in response to a Shiite uprising following the Persian Gulf War in 1991.