Team of veterinary experts visit village where 57 cattle died

A team of veterinary experts visited Landajuali in Odisha's Ganjam district Friday, a day after 57 cattle died in the village.

The two-member expert team of Animal Disease Research Institute (ADRI) at Phulnakhara will also visit some other affected villages in the district where death of cattle was reported, said assistant district veterinary officer (ADVO), Animal Disease, Rabindra Nath Panda.

The team will ascertain the cause of the death of the domestic animals in the last five days following heavy rain triggered by cyclone Phethai which barrelled through coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Clinical investigators in the district on Thursday had collected samples of the carcass of the animals from Landajuali to test and ascertain the exact cause of the mass casualty of the cattle, Panda said.

Veterinary doctors suspected that the cattle might have died due to pneumonia after they were exposed to rain and chilly conditions as they were not kept in proper sheds. The exact cause of the mass death of animals would be known after clinical test, said ADVO.

Meanwhile, the death toll of the domestic animals in the district increased to 306 in last five days, official sources said.

The death of the animals had been reported from 51 villages in 14 out of 22 blocks of the district, said the ADVO.