Foot-and-mouth disease hits animals in Arunachal

ITANAGAR:

Many domestic animals, including 808 mithuns and 71 cows, died while scores of others felt sick following an outbreak of the highly infectious foot-and-mouth disease in Arunachal Pradesh, said Tage Taki, the state Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Minister.

Speaking about the disease, which is often termed as “the scourge of livestock”, the minister informed that a total of 11,398 mithuns and 2,914 cattle were affected in 17 districts of the state in the last few months.

“The disease is endemic to our state and is one of the major threats to our livestock’s health. The disease affects the productivity of milch animals and ploughing capacity of bullocks,” he said.

The foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease is a viral infection that affects cloven-hoofed animals such as domestic and wild bovids.

(Edited by Christopher Gatphoh)

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