With foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) reported in cattle in nine districts, the Animal Husbandry department has stepped up surveillance and disease control measures across the State. That the present outbreak has been caused by not-so-common FMD virus serotypes has emerged as a matter of concern.
The Animal Husbandry department has deployed special squads for vaccination and treatment as part of the disease control measures, Animal Husbandry Minister J. Chinchurani said on Friday.
So far, 4,537 cattle have been vaccinated under an emergency ring vaccination programme in regions where the disease has been reported. Veterinary hospitals have been provided adequate medicine stocks for giving free treatment to the affected animals, the Minister said.
FMD is a highly contagious viral vesicular disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals. It has been reported in 51 places in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kasaragod and Kannur districts. Reportedly, the disease has spread from cattle brought into Kerala from outside. The disease was diagnosed in 940 cattle. In July alone, 61 animals died, including 41 calves, due to the disease.
Different strains
Studies by the State Institute for Animal Diseases (SIAD), Palode, on samples collected from the affected regions have revealed the relatively rarer FMD virus serotypes ‘Asia-1’ and ‘A’ to be the cause of the present outbreak.
The symptoms were found to be more intense in young animals. Earlier, outbreaks in Kerala were found to have been caused mostly by the FMD virus serotype ‘O.’ The SIAD has despatched samples to the National Institute on Foot-and-Mouth Disease (NIFMD), Bhubaneswar, for further studies.
In view of the outbreak, Kerala has also stepped up surveillance at State border check-posts.
