ULAN BATOR (UCAN) -- Following successive harsh winters, Mongolian herders now face further losses from foot and mouth disease.

Three districts of Ulan Bator have been quarantined since the viral disease, which affects almost all cloven-footed mammals, was confirmed in the capital March 5. The disease had reached the Mongolian countryside in February.

Although endemic in parts of Asia and other regions of the world, the disease surfaced last year in Japan and Korea for the first time in decades. An outbreak in Britain in February has spread to neighboring countries.

Most affected animals survive foot and mouth disease, but in a debilitated state with possibly severe aftereffects. It is commonly countered through destruction of infected animals and quarantine, though a vaccine is available.

The number of livestock lost due to the outbreak in Mongolia has reached 1,000, mostly cattle and sheep. Horses are resistant to the infection.

With many Mongolian families dependent on livestock for their livelihood, the Ministry of Agriculture has decided to launch a vaccination program so less animals will be killed, according to Amanda Fine, a government official and veterinary expert who spoke to UCA News in Ulan Bator.

Under the quarantine restrictions, residents of the affected districts are not allowed to leave the quarantine area, the wheels of vehicles passing through are chlorinated, and stray dogs are killed.

Herders in the city have been warned not to graze their livestock until further notice, since cross-infection is more widespread in the more heavily populated capital area than in the countryside.

As a result, in the city even animals suspected of contracting the disease are destroyed, whereas in the countryside, only sick animals face this fate. As of early April, 55 animals belonging to nine Ulan Bator families had been destroyed, although only 14 showed signs of the disease.

"We do not know about anyone in the Catholic Church having lost their animals because of the disease," Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Lieve Straiger told UCA News. However, she continued, "Church and missionary activities are affected by the quarantine and the restrictions."

She gave the example of a congregation mate who had to spend several hours in quarantine while returning from work in a community 40 kilometers away. The nun also had to have the wheels of her car sprayed with chlorine.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Father Gilbert Sales and 20 students from the Hong Kong International School who came to help in the Church-run orphanage in Ulan Bator in late March were similarly delayed after a trip outside the city.

Two young catechumens, Monkhbayar and Enkhtamir, missed the catechism camp before their planned Easter Baptism. They were still in a restricted area just a few days before Easter, but made it to Easter Mass and were baptized.

"I am so sorry that they missed the camp after a whole year of preparation," said their catechism teacher Myagmarsuren.

People in the quarantine areas also face difficulty in daily life.

A student, Zolzaya, told how her mother was not allowed to leave the restricted zone of Hailast. Nor was Zolzaya allowed to go see her mother.

"When after a long time she eventually came to see me and my brother, she could not return home. So now she is staying with us," Zolzaya continued.

She explained that it was hard for her mother "as there was not enough food and the unscrupulous vendor sold everything at a high price." Additionally, she said, "since it is not safe to use the water from the spring, people use the water brought in by vans. Of course, it is not enough."

The local Church has helped poor families in the quarantine areas by distributing flour, sugar, tea, cooking oil, clothes and sweets for children.

"We have included this in the 'dzud' (winter disaster) relief program," Immaculate Heart of Mary Father Wenceslao Padilla announced on Palm Sunday April 8. The Philippine missioner has headed the Mongolian Catholic Mission since he and two confreres began it in 1992.

"Dzud" in Mongolian refers specifically to an extremely harsh winter that follows a very dry summer. With low fodder reserves, weakened livestock suffer debilities and mass starvation in freezing winter temperatures.

Out of a total of about 33 million head of livestock, some 1.6 million died during the 2000-2001 dzud, twice as many as during the 1999-2000 dzud.

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