Farmers worried over foot-and-mouth disease among cattle in district

Coimbatore: The sporadic spreading of foot-and-mouth disease among cattle in the district for the past one week has raised concerns among farmers.
Pockets in Annur and Vellamadai have witnessed infections among cattle and there have been cases in Idikarai too. Farmers alleged that medicines to treat the infection were not readily available in government dispensaries.

The pregnant cow of A Ravichandran, a farmer from A S Kulam in SS Kulam block in the district, contracted the infection a week ago. But when he went to animal husbandry department’s dispensary in the area, they said they don’t have the medicine to treat pregnant cows. So, he said, he had to come to the city to get medicine and administer it to his cow.

Farmers from SS Kulam block met agricultural officials at the extension centre there last Saturday and apprised officials about the shortage of medicine.

“Agricultural officials spoke to their counterpart in animal husbandry and sought the medicines to be sent to our block. But still farmers can’t access it,” said Kallisamy, a farmer from Vellamadai. Farmers from Idikarai said cattle in their area had been infected with the contagious viral disease.

Farmers said the prevalence was sporadic and attributed it to new cows brought in from shanties and milkmen who carried the pathogen. They said they vaccinate their cattle twice a year (March and September) to prevent the disease. However, this time even after vaccination their cattle have contracted the disease.

When contacted, animal husbandry department officials ruled out the shortage of medicine. An official said they had sent medicines to the areas where the disease has been reported. However, they conceded that despite vaccination, stray incidents have been reported.

The department held meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss the situation. An official said the disease was not widespread and was only sporadic. “It might have come from shanties or from migratory animals. The cases so far reported are under treatment. If we get to know of other ailing animals, we would confirm it and form team to treat them,” the official said.