Taki advises owners to get their mithuns vaccinated against FMD

ITANAGAR, 6 Jul: Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Minister Tage Taki advised mithun owners in the state to get their mithuns vaccinated against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

The minister made the appeal in view of the large-scale outbreak of the disease in 10 districts.

He also appealed to the public to cooperate with the veterinarians in effectively treating the infected animals.

The animal husbandry, veterinary and dairy development (AHV&DD) department said it has engaged its entire manpower to combat the disease. Outbreak of the disease has been reported in Anjaw, Lohit, Lower Dibang Valley, East Siang, Siang, Upper Siang, West Siang, Leparada, Lower Siang and Upper Subansiri districts.

AHV&DD Secretary Bidol Tayeng recently held a meeting with AHV&DD Director Dr ND Minto and Joint Director Dr T Taku to discuss the current scenario of the disease.

“The entire situation is being monitored properly by the department and all possible combat operations are being carried out in full swing to contain the outbreak of the disease,” a release from the department said.

“Multipronged efforts by the veterinary field staffs are going on in war footing to provide proper care to the infected animals. The senior officers from the directorate have been stationed in the worst-affected districts to monitor and assess the disease situation,” the release said.

It also said that additional teams with essential medicines were deployed in some of the worst-affected districts on 2 July.

FMD is a highly contagious viral disease of all cloven-footed animals, which is economically devastating. The disease is endemic to most part of the country, which includes Arunachal. The disease can only be prevented by biannual vaccination.