With at least five animals falling prey to the deadly foot-and-mouth disease in Karur district on Monday, farmers and veterinarians are rattled at the sudden spurt in the viral disease. Shock and grief has gripped the villagers of Keezha Veliyur in Kalladai panchayat near Kulithalai that has seen one of the worst FMD attack over the past few days.
While a farmer Anandan’s cow and calf died due to FMD, his friend Andiappan too lost his cow and calf. A little later Palanisamy of the same village lost his ox that succumbed to the disease . There are unconfirmed reports of the death of a cow at Tamilsolai near Nangavaram area in the Kulithalai taluk.
When the disease struck Arugampalayam near Karur some 15 days back killing a clutch of animals, veterinarians started conducting vaccination camps all over the district to cover an animal population of 1.67 lakh within a short span.
Official sources claim that the FMD arrived from cattle transported from Karnataka initially and flow of the River Cauvery too could be among the contributory causes. To mitigate the spread through trading activities and transportation, the authorities have put an embargo on shandy operations.
The six cattle shandies in the district at Uppidamangalam, Puliyur, K. Paramathi, Irumboothipatti, Sengal and Manalmedu have been temporarily suspended till further orders. The embargo will also help prevent gullible farmers falling prey to machinations of broker trying to sell off afflicted animals in the shandies at a low price threatening other animals in the district.
PERAMBALUR: Farmers were advised not to shift cattle affected by foot and mouth disease from their shed as treatment should be provided at their place instead of shifting the animals elsewhere. This would be a significant step in preventing the spread of foot and mouth disease the Collector, Darez Ahamed, said on Monday.
Addressing a meeting to review the steps taken to prevent the spread of the disease, Dr. Darez Ahamed asked owners of affected cattle to curtail their personal visits outside the village. If a visit was unavoidable, they should leave their homes after bathing in water mixed with disinfectants. Affected cattle should be fed with the food prescribed by veterinary doctors and farmers should avoid giving them food made of rice and other grains. The Collector directed the officials to sprinkle bleaching powder, sodium carbonate solution and water mixed with sodium hydroxide around cattle sheds and in areas used by the affected cattle.
Dr. Darez Ahamed said that dead cattle should be buried in a six-foot-deep pit away from water bodies. Death of cattle should be reported to the nearest veterinary doctor before the carcass was removed for burial.
The disease, the Collector insisted, should be treated only by a veterinary assistant surgeon and not by others. Farmers should also be told that vaccination of cattle was essential and the apprehension that milk yield would go down after vaccination should be dispelled, the Collector told officials of departments of animal husbandry and rural development.
Gram sabha
Steps to prevent the spread of the disease would be disseminated to people at special gram sabha meetings to be held in all the villages in Karur, Ariyalur, and Tiruvarur districts on November 19 and in Perambalur district on November 20.
