U.N. Warns of Outbreak of Livestock Disease in Iraq

The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization warned Wednesday that an outbreak of animal diseases in Iraq could easily spread to nearby countries and contaminate food supplies.

It said the collapse of Iraq’s veterinary services after the 1991 Persian Gulf War had led to cases of foot-and-mouth disease, brucellosis and other serious ailments.

The organization said Iraq needs to import more vaccine to fight some of the diseases, and it indicated that such vaccines could not be used for any other purpose.

“Procurement of the vaccines and their timely delivery is vital to safeguarding animal health, which is an essential component of food security in the region,” it said.

“The government has been unable to adequately monitor and control the spread of these diseases, partly because of the difficulties it has in obtaining equipment and supplies, particularly vaccines,” it added.

The outbreak reflects the complexity of dealing with Iraq after the Gulf War. The Baghdad government is allowed to sell $5.25-billion worth of crude oil every six months to buy necessary supplies under a plan to ease the impact of U.N. sanctions.

Under the program, Iraq so far has imported and used about 1 million doses of animal vaccine for foot-and-mouth disease, but it is not currently seeking more, a U.N. spokesman said.

Complicating the picture is the fact that many of Iraq’s herds graze in remote areas, and the vaccines must be kept chilled to retain their potency.

“There is a serious livestock disease problem there,” said John Mills, a spokesman for the oil-for-food program.

A Russian proposal before the Security Council would end sanctions, while a French alternative would allow Iraq to import many types of civilian goods so it could rebuild its economy.

The safety of the food supply of Iraq and its neighbors has been overshadowed by efforts to ensure that it does not rebuild its arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.

In a report to a committee created by the U.N. Security Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency said documents it requested from Iraq about its nuclear weapons program were incomplete, and in future years monitoring and verification must be rigorous and intrusive.

The agency called for unannounced inspections and the continuous presence in Iraq of a nuclear monitoring group.

It said verification activities before military strikes in mid-December by the United States and Britain revealed no indication that Iraq possessed nuclear weapons, any meaningful amount of material that could be used for nuclear weapons or that the country has the capacity to produce nuclear material.

Still, the agency stressed that was no guarantee.

The agency added that it assumed Iraq retained key documents from its clandestine nuclear program, specimens of important components and possibly some non-enriched uranium. The agency said it also believed that Iraq retains the capacity to exploit for nuclear weapons purposes any materials or technology it may acquire.