Disease

Foot and Mouth Disease in India

In one of the biggest cattle deaths due to foot and mouth disease in Karnataka, India, the outbreak in southern districts has claimed 730 head of cattle so far this month.

Negligence on the part of farmers to get the cattle vaccinated and also delay in starting the seasonal vaccination is said to have contributed to the outbreak even as the officials suspect that a new strain of the virus may have emerged.

Though sporadic cases had been reported in the last fortnight, a majority of them have died in less than one week, causing panic among farmers in Mandya (230), Kolar (222), Ramanagaram (129), Chickballapur (63) and Mysore (42) districts where the majority of deaths have been reported, according to an Animal Husbandry Department official.

Chamarajanagar (12), Bangalore Urban (11), Bangalore Rural (3), Tumkur (16) and Dharwad (3) districts have also reported cattle death due to the air-borne viral disease. However, sources in the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) put the cattle toll between 800 and 900.