Cattle

90% cattle vaccinated against lumpy skin disease in Punjab, says minister

Punjab's animal husbandry department is close to achieving 100 per cent vaccination of the 25 lakh cattle in the state against lumpy skin disease (LSD) and has inoculated more than 22 lakh of them. In an official statement issued on Saturday, Animal Husbandry Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar said the vaccination drive is nearing completion ahead of the April 30 deadline. "The vaccination drive for early protection of cattle from LSD was initiated on a war footing on February 15, 2023 with 773 dedicated veterinary teams of the animal husbandry department," he said. "We have completed 90 per cent vaccination till date, with more than 22,58,300 cattle already vaccinated," the minister said, adding the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government has set a target of vaccinating all the 25 lakh cattle in the state under this mega campaign. Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Vikas Pratap said the department had set a daily target of administering 40,000 vaccine doses and has achieved it

Some fodder for thought

Uptrend in milk prices can be attributed chiefly to the steadily worsening shortage and the resultant surge in the prices of fodder and feed, accounting for nearly 65% of the cost of milk production

Around 24 cr cattle, buffaloes covered under FMD vaccination drive

The government on Friday said around 24 crore cattle and buffaloes have now been covered under Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccination drive. FMD is a major disease of livestock especially in cattle and buffaloes in India and causes huge economic loss to livestock owners due to a reduction in milk yield. "During the second round of the Foot and Mouth Disease vaccination drive, around 24 crore cattle and buffaloes in the country have now been covered out of a targeted population of 25.8 crore cattle (as per data furnished by states); reaching a near universal coverage of over 95 per cent which is well beyond the herd immunity level," an official statement said. The milestone has been achieved because of the relentless efforts of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD), State/ UT Governments administration, and support of the livestock owners, it added. The programme is 100 per cent funded by the Centre which is centrally procuring vaccines against FMD and supplying t

Lumpy skin disease: North Goa extends ban on cattle transportation

The North Goa district administration has extended the ban on the transportation of milch animals, except buffaloes, from other states by another two months to check the spread of lumpy skin disease in cattle, as per an official order. The order issued by the North Goa district magistrate on January 21 and published in the government gazette on Monday said the ban on the transportation of cattle from other states has been extended for a period of 60 days. The ban imposed earlier expired on January 21, 2023, necessitating the administration to extend it. The order said the ban has been extended following information from the Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services that the lumpy skin disease condition is still prevalent in cattle in the neighbouring states. Hence, in an effort to keep the disease from spreading, it has been requested to extend the ban on the transportation of milch animals, except buffaloes, from other states to Goa, the order said. The relaxation i

Joshimath crisis: Pets and cattle displaced as owners navigate fallout

As land sinks in Joshimath, another tragedy is playing out in this Himalayan town, many dogs, cattle and other domestic animals left untended as their owners navigate the life-changing crisis

11,547 cattle died of lumpy skin disease in 10 months in Maharashtra: Govt

As many as 1,78,072 cattle were infected by the lumpy skin disease in Maharashtra this year and 11,547 of them died as of October, the government has informed the state Legislative Council. Deaths due to the viral disease which affects animals were reported in 291 tehsils of 33 districts (out of the total 36 districts in the state), Revenue Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said during the Question Hour on Tuesday. Dr Manisha Kayande, Mahadeo Jankar, Eknath Khadse and others had raised the question. Around 1.39 crore cattle were given the Goat Pox-virus vaccine to protect them from the disease, the minister further said. Of 1,39,92,304 cattle in Maharashtra, 2.71 per cent animals were infected by the lumpy disease, Vikhe-Patil informed. A compensation of Rs 30,000 was paid per deceased cow, Rs 25,000 per deceased bullock and Rs 16,000 per deceased calf as per the National Disaster Management Guidelines, he said. Lumpy skin disease is a contagious viral infection that affects ...

Input cost pressure

Cattle feed shortage is pushing up milk prices

Maharashtra: Lumpy skin disease claimed lives of 11,547 cattle in 10 months

As many as 1,78,072 cattle were infected by the lumpy skin disease in Maharashtra this year and 11,547 of them had died as of October, the government informed the Legislative Council here on Tuesday. Deaths due to the viral disease which affects animals were reported in 291 tehsils of 33 districts, said Revenue Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil during Question Hour. Dr Manisha Kayande, Mahadeo Jankar, Eknath Khadse and others had raised the question. Around 1.39 crore cattle were given the Goat Pox-virus vaccine to protect them from the disease, the minister further said. Of 1,39,92,304 cattle in Maharashtra, 2.71 per cent animals were infected by the lumpy disease, Vikhe-Patil informed. A compensation of Rs 30,000 was paid per deceased cow, Rs 25,000 per deceased bullock and Rs 16,000 per deceased calf as per the National Disaster Management Guidelines, he said.

90 sheeps, 8 vultures die after being hit by 2 trains in Balrampur

As many as 90 sheep and eight vultures died on Sunday after being hit by two trains in Balrampur

Sanctuary for stray cattle to come up in Muzaffarnagar: Sanjeev Balyan

In a bid to resolve the problem of stray cattle, the Centre has decided to build a cow sanctuary in Purkazi block of Muzaffarnagar, Union minister Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said on Sunday. The proposed cow sanctuary will come up at Meghachandan village and will be spread over 70 hectares of government land. It will be sheltering more than 5,000 stray cattle, he said. Balyan, who is a minister of state for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said that the cow sanctuary in Muzaffarnagar will start as a pilot project. "My target is that this should be ready in the next 3-4 months, and in the next six months, no stray cattle should be seen on streets or farms of Muzaffarnagar, and all of them should be inside the cow sanctuary," he said. The Union minister noted that small cow shelters (gaushalas) have failed to address the problem of stray cattle, which was raised by the Opposition to target the BJP in the 2022 UP Assembly election. Balyan said that the cow sanctuary will be handed

Over 155k cattle deaths so far this year due to lumpy skin disease: Govt

Over 1.55 lakh cattle have died in the country this year so far due to lumpy skin disease (LSD), the government informed the Rajya Sabha. LSD is a contagious viral disease that affects cattle and causes fever and nodules on the skin. It can also lead to death. "As per the latest 20th Livestock census, the cattle population in the country is approximately 19.34 crores," Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Parshottam Rupala said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. Cattle deaths due to lumpy skin disease in the country during the year 2022 stands at 1,55,366. As per the data, Rajasthan saw the most cattle deaths at 75,819, followed by Maharashtra (24,430), Punjab (17,932), Karnataka (12,244), Himachal Pradesh (10,681), Gujarat (6,193), Haryana (2,937) and Jammu & Kashmir (2,698). "Lumpy Skin Disease was reported initially from Odisha in September, 2019," he added. As gathered from the states/UTs, the number of cases and vaccinations done during 2022 stood at ...

Vande Bharat train collides with cattle in Gujarat, front panel damaged

The Gandhinagar-Mumbai Vande Bharat Superfast Express train collided with cattle between Udvada and Vapi station in Gujarat

Railways to build walls on worst-impacted routes to contain cattle hits

Plans are to build 1,000 km of walls across sections, no change on Vande Bharat nose panel, damage to which brought the issue of cattle hits to the fore

SC seeks replies on plea for national health plan on lumpy skin disease

The Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre and six states on Monday on a plea that has sought the formulation of a national health plan on lumpy skin disease in cattle. Lumpy skin disease is a contagious viral infection that affects cattle and causes fever, nodules on the skin, and can also lead to death. The disease spreads through mosquitoes, flies, lice and wasps by direct contact among cattle, and through contaminated food and water. The plea, filed by Pune-based NGO Aryavarta Mahasabha Foundation, came up for hearing before a bench of justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala, which issued notices and sought responses from the Centre and the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. The plea, drafted by advocate Pawan Prakash Pathak, said lumpy skin disease has been rapidly spreading among cattle in eight states and more than 75,000 cattle have died due to it since July. According to the plea, the Centre has begun administering the "g

Cattle on tracks: 200 trains affected till Oct 9; 4,000 faced delay in 2022

Cattle run overs affected 200 trains in the first nine days of October and over 4,000 trains so far this year, official data has shown. The worst affected is the newly minted Mumbai-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express train which was launched on October 1. It suffered three run-ins with cattle this month, causing damage to its "nose". Officials said the Railways has barricaded several areas around the tracks which are prone to such incidents, but it is difficult to cover long stretches as there are residential areas with homes on one side and farms on the other. The Railways has also identified stretches which have recorded a high number of such cases and are in the process of fencing them. Work has been completed in 40 per cent of these sections, an official said. "Railways is taking all efforts to reduce cattle run overs (CROs). We are pinpointing locations where a pattern is found. We visit such sites and ascertain the cause of frequent CROs. Sometimes, there are reasons which can be

Vande Bharat train hits cattle in Gujarat, third incident this month

The Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Superfast Express rammed into cattle near Atul railway station in Gujarat on Saturday morning which damaged its front panel, an official said. This was the third such incident since the Vande Bharat train service started on this route from September 30. The train halted for 15 minutes after hitting a bull that had strayed on the track around 8.20 am but all the passengers were safe, said Sumit Thakur, chief public relations officer of Western Railway. The train's front panel was damaged and the underbelly equipment of its first coach was also dented, he said. "There is no damage to the train, except to the Nose Cone Cover of the front coach, that is the driver's coach. The train is running smoothly," Thakur added. The damaged panel will be replaced once the train reaches Mumbai, he said. On October 6, the train, which has a maximum speed of 130 kmph, ran over four buffaloes between Vatva and Maninagar stations in Gujarat on its way to Gandhinag

143k cattle affected by lumpy skin disease in Maharashtra so far: Official

The lumpy skin disease has affected 1,43,089 cattle in Maharashtra so far and 93,166 of them have recovered after treatment, a senior animal husbandry department official said on Wednesday. The disease has till now spread to 3,030 villages in 32 out of the total 36 districts of the state, Animal Husbandry Commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh said. The lumpy skin disease is a contagious viral infection that affects cattle and can also lead to death. Its symptoms include fever, nodules on the skin, reduced milk production, loss of appetite, and watery eyes, as per experts. "The affected cattle are being treated in the state and as on date, 140.97 lakh vaccines have been made available in various districts," Singh said. So far, 135.58 lakh cattle have been given free vaccination in the state, he said. The vaccination process has been completed in Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Dhule, Akola, Aurangabad, Beed, Kolhapur, Sangli, Washim, Jalna, Nandurbar and Mumbai suburbs, the official said. "As

Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat suffers minor damages after cattle hit

The newly launched Mumbai Central-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Express suffered minor damages after hitting a herd of buffaloes in Gujarat Thursday morning, officials said. The incident happened between the Gairatpur and Vatva station around 11:20 am. A railway spokesperson said the front part of the engine was damaged in the incident. "Three-four buffaloes suddenly came on the way of Mumbai-Gandhinagar VB (Vande Bharat), damaging the nose made up of FRP (fiber reinforced plastic). The spokesperson said no functional part was damaged in the incident. "The train moved just after removing carcasses (within 8 minutes) and reached Gandhinagar on time. The incident occurred at 11:18 between Gairatpur-Vatva station. The Railways is trying to counsel nearby villagers not to leave cattle near the track." The semi-high speed trains was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 30.

Vande Bharat designed with unavoidable cattle collision in mind: Vaishnaw

Collision with cattle on the tracks is unavoidable and this has been kept in mind while designing the semi-high speed Vande Bharat train, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said here on Friday. A day before, four buffaloes were killed after being hit by the Gandhinagar Capital-Mumbai Central Vande Bharat Express near Vatva in Ahmedabad. The train's cone nose was damaged and replaced later. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flagged off the train on the route on September 30. "The train has been designed in such a way and it is so strong that if there is an accident, nothing will happen to the train. Its nose on the front is totally replaceable. As soon as the train reached Mumbai (after the incident on Thursday), it was completely cleaned up and its nose replaced," Vaishnaw said here. The minister was interacting with the students of an engineering college at Vallabh Vidyanagar. The train has been designed "very thoughtfully," he said. "In India, the tracks are laid on the ground. .

More than 86% infected cattle recovered from lumpy skin disease in MP

More than 86 per cent cattle affected by the lumpy skin disease in Madhya Pradesh have recovered from the infection and no death has been reported in the state in the last 10 days, a senior veterinary official said on Friday. At least 291 cattle have succumbed to the disease in the state since August, but no casualty was reported in the last 10 days, the official said, adding that no new case was recorded in the last one week. "A total of 17,553 cattle were affected by the lumpy skin virus and of them, 15,073, which is 86 per cent, have recovered from the disease," said R K Mehiya, director of the veterinary and dairy department. As many as 2,480 cattle are currently being treated for the infection in the state, he said. Since the viral outbreak in July, laboratories had confirmed the presence of lumpy virus in 14 out of the total 52 districts in the state, the official said. Compared to the total number of 1.87 crore bovines in the state, the number of cattle affected with the vi