The recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Sisian, Southern Armenia, was successfully curbed when World Vision staff joined community members to treat affected livestock.

The epidemic broke out in early June and quickly spread to 25 of 34 villages in Sisian.

Foot-and-mouth disease wreaks devastating effects on cattle, pigs and other hoofed animals, causing them to loose so much weight that the value of their meat and milk diminishes. Fortunately, the virus rarely infects humans.

'It was the most virulent, destructive and dangerous outbreak of foot-and-mouth since the 1980s. I was surprised by the incredibly rapid spread of the disease. Many animals died within hours, especially the calves and piglets,' said Janik Hakhverdyan, Sisian Area Development Program animal breeding monitor.

Villagers frantically sought medications to cure the animals themselves, as the government was not prepared to tackle the epidemic.

World Vision staff distributed vaccinations to the villagers and taught them how to inject the vaccine into their sick animals. As a result, the epidemic was curbed within a couple weeks.

'World Vision's help was crucial. Last time foot-and-mouth broke out, many of the villagers had no access to vaccinations and ended up slaughtering their animals. That was horrible since people here survive on animal breeding,' said Ruzanna Mehrabyan, from Shagahat village. She owns two cows, one of which was provided by World Vision through a cow-breeding project.

'If the epidemic breaks out again, I'm sure the villagers will know how to tackle it now,' said Hakhverdyan.