JAGATSINGHPUR: THE death of hundreds of cattle due to an unidentified disease in different villages of Raghunathpur, Tirtol, Balikuda, Kujang and other areas of Jagatsinghpur district this month has left the owners worried.
The sudden deaths of livestock has also broken the backbone of the owners who depend on it for a living. Villagers blamed veterinary officials and administration who have not conducted routine examination of the cattle resulting in the deaths.
Cattle owners said the animals suffer from fever and later their throats get swollen and they die after a few days. Most of the dead animals were large-sized cattle, they said.Chikinia villagers informed that they have lost count of the cattle deaths. “Around 50 cattle have died in five to seven villages of Raghunathpur block besides those in the villages of Tirtol, Kujang and Balikuda blocks.”
Last month, local livestock inspectors were reluctant to receive vaccines from the department because of lack of storage facilities at LI centres. Acute shortage of staff and vaccines not being administered to the cattle have lead to their deaths, the villagers said.
The harassed villagers started treating their cattle themselves without proper diagnosis but that failed to yield result. Meanwhile, the Veterinary department has started treatment of cattle in Raghunathpur and Tirtol areas.
Additional District Veterinary Officer (disease control) Srikant Prusty said, “a team of scientists of Animal Disease Research Institute, Phulnakhara have been sent to ascertain the cause of diseases in affected areas.”
