Cattle fairs brought to a halt in Rajasthan to control lumpy skin disease

The step was taken to control spread of lumpy skin disease among bovines after toll crossed 9,000

Cattle fairs were brought to a halt in Rajasthan on Saturday to check the spread of lumpy skin disease among the bovines.

A dedicated care centre for animals affected by the disease has been set up at Hingonia gaushala near Jaipur. The contagious skin disease has so far killed around 9,130 cattle in the State.

Union Minister of Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala, who arrived here on Saturday to take stock of the situation, reviewed the measures being implemented. Mr. Rupala was informed that over 1.9 lakh bovine animals had been infected so far and that cattle-rearers had suffered heavy losses. Over 1.56 lakh of the infected animals were treated and 63,542 of them have fully recovered, according to the Animal Husbandry Department.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has instructed Ministers to visit districts to assess the situation and make the public aware of the infection. The MLAs and elected representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions have also been told to visit the areas affected and hold meetings with cattle herders, milk producers and gaushala operators.

While the infection has spread in 17 districts of the State, the worst-affected districts are Jodhpur, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jalore, Bikaner, Churu, Sriganganagar and Nagaur. State Animal Husbandry Minister Lalchand Kataria said the recovery rate across the State had improved and the infection rate, which was 21.2% on August 1, was constantly declining and had touched 5.61%.

Mr. Gehlot has urged the Centre to provide financial and other assistance to save the cattle and help in controlling the disease. The State government has sanctioned an additional budget of ₹1.06 crore for purchasing essential medicines on an emergency basis.

Though the entry of livestock from neighbouring States has been banned, the carcasses of the cattle dying of lumpy skin disease have raised the fear of spread of infection. The rainy season, during which the breeding of vector mosquitoes increases, has also posed a challenge to the government officials and cattle-rearers.