CHAKWAL: Scores of cattle have died and many others are battling with an infectious disease that broke out in Murid village located about six km from here.

“The foot and mouth disease is infectious which sometimes emerges as fatal for animals. Animals with this disease suffer from high fever and blisters in mouth and on hooves,” said a senior veterinary officer.

Some of the villagers told Dawn that more than 100 cattle, including cows and buffalos, had died during the last five days.

Murid is the cultural hub of Chakwal district and is known for the famous bulls that take part in Karah or Jalsa, a cultural sport.

The Jalsa is supposed to be held in the village on February 21.

The villagers were excited about the upcoming event but the sudden attack of the foot and mouth disease has worried them.

Haji Azam, the owner of a famous bull “Nikka Usri Aala” said: “I was preparing for the upcoming event but my prized bull has died along with two cows and six other animals.”

Another farmer, Nasir Kahoot, has also lost his famous bull. “Recently, I was offered Rs2 million for my bull but I did not sell it because it was priceless and very dear to me,” he said. Amjid Kahoot lost nine cattle to the deadly disease.

The affected farmers said they kept on calling the veterinary officer but he did not pay heed to their requests.

There are also reports about cattle suffering from the same disease in other areas of the district.

In the Chinji village, a famous bull called “Roshan Pakistan” owned by Malik Gul Mohammad was slaughtered on Sunday after its condition deteriorated due to the disease.

A senior official of the Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development Department told Dawn that vaccination to preempt the infectious disease was not carried out in Chakwal and Attock because both the districts were declared as control zones by the government.

“In a control zone, the vaccination is not done and the virus is allowed to attack animals so that a medical study can be carried out on the virus to prepare vaccine. In this way, cattle in the rest of the districts could be saved from the attack of such a disease,” the official claimed.

The villagers on Friday also protested against the officials of the Livestock and Dairy Development Department. Carrying the carcasses of the animals on donkey carts, they blocked the Chakwal-Talagang Road.

“I have suspended the senior veterinary officer and a veterinary assistant who showed negligence,” Additional Director Livestock and Dairy Development Department Chakwal Sarfraz Chatha told Dawn. He said 15 teams had been constituted for the village and a radius of five km had been fixed in which all cattle would be vaccinated and treated by these teams.

“We have set up camps in the village and the director livestock and experts from Islamabad also visited the village,” he said, terming the attack of the infectious disease an outbreak.

“This time the attack is very severe while in previous years the mortality rate was very small.” But he claimed that only 25 to 30 animals had died in the village.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2018