Karnataka: Foot and mouth disease vaccination drive starts

HUBBALLI: The department of animal husbandry and veterinary services started vaccinating cattle for foot and mouth disease in the district on Monday. Over 3,631 cattles were vaccinated on the first day.
There are 1.90 lakh cattle in seven taluks. The vaccine, to help prevent the occurrence of the disease, is being administered under the National Animal Disease Control Programme at no cost to the rearers. The drive will go on till December 7.
The National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP) is a flagship scheme, launched by the Government of India in 2019 to control Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis.
Foot and Mouth Disease is a highly contagious viral vesicular disease of cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle. It leads to reduction in milk yield, decrease in growth rate, infertility and reduced working capacity among bullocks. Control over the disease can be achieved by mass vaccination of susceptible livestock at regular intervals till the incidence of the disease comes down.
The department has created awareness among cattle owners and farmers about the vaccination programme at the district, taluk and village panchayat levels.
The department deputy director, Dr. Umesh N Kondi, said the campaign will be on mission mode till December 7. The cattle will annually undergo two rounds after a gap of six months each. Two rounds of vaccination have been completed for some cattle. A third round was launched for such cattle till December 7.