from www.thoroughbredtimes.com re FNM

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

hollyu beztez1@yahoo.com
DUBAI OFFICIALS SAY DISEASE UNDER CONTROL BEFORE WORLD CUP
Foot and mouth disease will not prove a problem for
the upcoming Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) meeting on March 24th
at Nad al Sheba racecourse despite the disease reaching the
United Arab Emirates, emirates officials said on Tuesday.

Mohammed Raqabani, agriculture minister, said eight cases of
the degenerative disease had been discovered in cattle
imported to the Persian Gulf nation.  Most cattle are imported
from Australia, but Raqabani said he was uncertain where this
group originated.

"The emergence of foot-and-mouth cases is absolutely normal 
in the Emirates, a country which imports lots of animals,"
Raqabani told Khaleej Times.

The United Arab Emirates Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
on March 11 sent out a decree stating that livestock
and other animals can only be imported into the UAE
with permission from the ministry.

Meanwhile, Dr. Tom Morton, who runs the Dubai Quarantine
Center, told Gulf News that his facility would thoroughly
screen and disinfect all horses arriving in the country,
and that racing should not be disrupted.  The disease has
disrupted racing in England, with the sport cancelled for
a week in early March and the prestigious Cheltenham
Festival steeplechase meet being postponed for a month.

"With all the World Cup AND ENDURANCE HORSES (FOR A MAJOR
ENDURANCE RACE SCHEDULED FOR TWO DAYS BEFORE THE WORLD CUP)
coming into the UAE, we have taken adequate precautions.  
They are held in isolation here so they don't come in 
contact with other cloven footed animals and are only
released for track work or the race itself.  The Arabian
camel...is not susceptible to this particular strain of
foot and mouth disease, so we're okay there.

"The foot-and-mouth crisis is not an issue for us.  It never
has been," Morton continued.  "The UAE has one of the most
disciplined quarantine protocols in the world and we are
confident that we haven't, and will not, be affected
in any way."