- 08:50
Nearly two-thirds of the country’s cattle are believed to be infected with a fast-spreading viral fever that slashes milk production and devastates farmers. Veterinarians describe the outbreak as “extremely dangerous but not transmissible to humans”, yet it lays bare the weaknesses of Lebanon’s preventive systems—at a time when another disease, lumpy skin disease, is already alarming farmers across France and Europe.
As international veterinary reports warn of foot-and-mouth disease in the Middle East and lumpy skin disease in Europe, Lebanese farmers are discovering the limits of a prevention system already weakened by years of crisis.
A “hoof flu” spiraling into disaster
In Lebanese cowsheds, the alarm bells rang long before official statements. For more than a month, veterinarians have been observing the same scenes: cattle laid low by fever, blisters in their mouths, on their hooves, or udders, refusal to eat, and calves dying one after another.
Behind this pattern lies a diagnosis: foot-and-mouth disease, in its SAT1 variant—a strain long confined to Africa that has now spread across the region within months, from Iraq to Egypt, Turkey, and likely Syria.
“Today we estimate that 60 to 70 percent of the national cattle herd is affected, with milk production cut in half,” warns Dr. Khair Jarrah, member of the Higher Agricultural Council. “For a farmer, each sick cow represents thousands of dollars lost between medication, milk loss, and the risk of mortality.”
Authorities repeat that the virus is not transmitted to humans, neither through contact nor through the consumption of meat or dairy products. The president of the Veterinary Syndicate, Ihab Chaaban, also stresses a recurring point in the dozens of calls from worried families: the disease poses no danger to pets such as cats or dogs. Even the milk from infected animals is not harmful—though, in practice, sick cows often stop producing altogether.
For livestock owners, however, the situation is anything but benign: it is an economic hemorrhage and a psychological shock.
Vaccines, containment zones, and the fight against smuggling
On the ground, symptoms had been reported for weeks, and the response is now being deployed on multiple fronts: monitoring outbreak clusters, restricting animal movement between regions, and strengthening inspections, especially against smuggling.
Speaking to Ici Beyrouth, Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani says his ministry is attempting to secure vaccines “from every possible source.” He announces the arrival, “by the end of the week,” of around 50,000 doses from Egypt, targeting the SAT1 strain. “For cows already infected, it’s unfortunately too late,” he concedes, explaining that the immediate priority is to protect healthy herds and slow the spread of the epizootic.
Hani says a priority-based vaccination campaign has begun, targeting areas with the highest concentration of cases—particularly the region between Aïn Dara and Niha, as well as Choueifate. “The virus is very aggressive,” he insists.
On border control, the minister says the situation is “improving,” while acknowledging the sensitivity of the issue. He cites a recent episode: “Two days ago, 160 cows smuggled from Syria were seized,” several of them infected. According to him, these interceptions show that controls are being tightened. “We’re on the right track,” he says.
For his part, Dr. Jarrah welcomes the minister’s decision to halt imports from countries where the SAT1 strain is present and to temporarily freeze other shipments, highlighting the mobilization of public institutions, including the work of Director General Louis Lahoud. He reiterates the key message: the disease affects cattle, not consumers.
Massive losses… and little hope for compensation
Beyond the statistics, the disaster is written on the faces of farmers. One breeder recounts importing 250 high-quality dairy cows at the end of October. All are now ill. Daily milk production has fallen from four tons to under 800 kilos. Medication costs him about $1,000 per day. If the herd does not recover, the loss could reach $400,000.
In the worst-hit farms, cows that seemed to improve suddenly relapse with severe udder damage. “It’s the nightmare scenario,” explains Dr. Jarrah. “Even when the cow survives, the udder remains damaged and will never return to normal production.”
The Veterinary Syndicate president describes an unforgiving reality: the farmer is always the automatic loser. Cows purchased at high cost, reproduction halted, milk output collapsing, and sometimes the need to cull the herd. Some veterinarians say they can no longer keep up as cases multiply.
For the government, the central question remains: how to support a sector already on the brink? Farmers are documenting their losses and hoping for a substantial response in a country with almost no budgetary margin.
In Europe, another threat
While Lebanese farmers try to save what they can, their European counterparts face another cattle disease: lumpy skin disease. Transmitted mainly by insects, it causes fever, decreased milk production, and painful nodules.
In France, confirmed outbreaks have led to mass culling of herds, triggering deep anger among farmers. Authorities there also stress that the virus does not affect humans, but the economic impact is severe.
Lebanon is not at the center of this European crisis, but the comparison is striking: here, foot-and-mouth disease ravages barns just as Europe debates drastic preventive measures against another threat.
When cows pay the price of politics
Foot-and-mouth disease will not kill the Lebanese people, experts remind us. But it is destroying the confidence of an entire sector in the state’s ability to protect it. While Europe culls thousands of cattle to contain lumpy skin disease, Lebanon watches its herds deteriorate, trapped between imported viruses, delayed vaccines, and poorly controlled smuggling.
In the end, one pattern remains: here, as elsewhere, the same actors pay the price for porous borders, hesitant policy decisions, and poorly managed crises. The cows have no say—nor, it seems, do the farmers.
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