The personnel of the Animal Husbandry Department on Saturday launched a 15-day vaccination drive for over 10 lakh cattle in the district to prevent the seasonal Foot-and-Mouth Disease (called Galikuntu Vyadhi in Telugu).
The Joint Director (Animal Husbandry), M. Srinivasa Rao, told The Hindu that the morbid foot and mouth disease will be active in February with incubation period for the virus commencing from October.
He appealed to all the sarpanches and village level officials and farmers to make the vaccination drive a success. “There is a fallacy among the dairy farmers that vaccination would lead to reduction in milk production. But, it is utterly false.
The vaccinated cattle would get temperature for a couple of days and the reduction in milk production would be normal after two days. If the vaccination is not administered to cattle, the milk production would drastically come down,” Dr. Srinivasa Rao said.
The official said that as many as 120 teams were formed all over the district to record population of cows and buffaloes. At present, the district administration received 9.31 lakh doses of vaccine and if need be the stock would be procured additionally.
The Joint Director said that Chittoor district is vulnerable to FMD. “Due to cross border cattle trade with adjoining States of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the disease is fast spreading among the cattle here. The disease would also affect the conceiving aspect in the cattle,” he said.
He said that FMD in cattle will have direct impact on the economic aspect of the farmers. In view of this, the massive awareness programme and vaccination drive will continue in the rural side. Over 1,000 personnel, including veterinary doctors, paravets, and field staff, would be involved in this.
