Agriculture Ministry orders crackdown on CCHF ahead of Eid al-Adha
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq's Ministry of Agriculture on Sunday ordered a series of preventive measures to contain the spread of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever ahead of Eid al-Adha, as infections continue to be recorded across multiple provinces.
The ministry's statement centered on a ban on unregulated slaughter, directing that all slaughter operations be conducted exclusively at licensed abattoirs. The order came with a public health rationale: the virus spreads primarily through contact with the blood and tissue of infected livestock, making the high-volume, often informal animal slaughter that accompanies Eid al-Adha a significant transmission window.
In Iraq, as across the Muslim world, millions of animals are slaughtered over the Eid holiday's three to four days, a large proportion of them outside formal slaughterhouse facilities. That informality —combined with direct handling of animal blood, organs, and hides— creates elevated exposure risk when Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is circulating in livestock populations.
Iraq has recorded 17 cases of the disease since the start of 2026, according to health authorities.
Mohammed Aziz al-Miyahi, director general of the Veterinary Directorate —the Ministry of Agriculture's operational arm for animal health— said veterinary hospitals across all provinces had been directed to contact governors' offices to reactivate inspection and monitoring committees.
