UP govt plans 300 km 'immune belt' to check lumpy virus spread in animals

To check the lumpy virus disease among animals in the state, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is planning to create a 300 km-long 'immune belt' from Pilibhit to Etawah.

The 'immune belt' passing through 23 blocks of five districts will be 10 km-wide. In this regard, preparations have been completed by the Department of Animal Husbandry.

According to a state government spokesman, a special enforcement team will be formed by the Department for surveillance under the immune belt.

The task force will handle the tracking and treatment of animals infected with the lumpy virus.

Earlier, a similar effort to prevent animal infection has been done in Malaysia in 2020, the results of which were very positive.

The virus has spread in as many as 23 districts of Uttar Pradesh. Of these, the highest number of cases have been reported in Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar, and Saharanpur.

At the same time, the virus is spreading rapidly in Mathura, Bulandshahr, Baghpat, Hapur, Meerut, Shamli, and Bijnor.

So far, 21,619 cows from 2,331 villages of the state have been affected by the lumpy virus, out of which 199 have died, while 9,834 have been treated and recovered.

To overcome the deadly virus, the Yogi government is running a massive vaccination campaign. More than 5,83,600 cattle have been vaccinated so far.

Most of the cases of lumpy virus have been reported in the western districts of the state. In view of the same, the Uttar Pradesh government has prepared a plan to cover a distance of about 300 km from Pilibhit to Etawah with a 10-km-wide immune belt.

This immune belt will pass through Bisalpur, Barkheda, Lalorikheda, Marauri, and Amaria development blocks of Pilibhit district via Khudaganj, Nigohi, Sidhauli, Bhawal Kheda, Kant, Jalalabad, and Mirzapur development blocks of Shahjahanpur district, and Kaimganj, Shamsabad and Rajepur development blocks of Farrukhabad district.

It will reach Kurawali, Sultanganj, and Ghirour development blocks of Mainpuri district and Badhpura, Jaswantnagar, Sefai, Basrehar, and Takha development blocks of Etawah.

According to the information shared by the Animal Husbandry Department, the month of September is considered very sensitive, therefore, special vigilance is being maintained in 9 divisions of the state regarding the spread of the lumpy virus.

There is no shortage of vaccines in the department and more than 32 lakh vaccines have been received, the officials informed. Now preparations have been completed to administer as many as two lakh vaccines a day, which will be further increased to three lakh vaccines per day.

Lumpy skin disease is a viral disease that affects cattle. It is transmitted by blood-feeding insects, such as flies and mosquitos, and ticks. It causes fever and nodules on the skin and can lead to the death of the cattle.

--IANS

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