Over 15 cattle, mostly cows and calves, are suspected to have died from lumpy skin disease at Verkui village in Surat district's Mangrol taluka in the last 15 days. Sources said some cattle have also died in Boriya village of the taluka under suspicious circumstances. Doctors from the district panchayat veterinary department and Sumul Dairy on Friday visited Verkui village to take samples of 13 infected cattle. Officials said that in the last one week, Verkui village had witnessed over four suspicious cattle deaths. Verkui village sarpanch’s husband, Karmabhai Gamit, said, “We have informed the district panchayat veterinary department and Sumul Dairy. their teams came to our village on Friday.” He added that the state government should compensate the cattle owners who have suffered losses. Dr Himanshu Kawani from the district panchayat veterinary department said, “Today, we collected samples of 13 cattle and will send same for testing in Ahmedabad tomorrow. At present, it is difficult to how many have died due to lumpy skin disease.” He added, “The sick cattle are being treated and we have told cattle owners to keep them in isolation and observation for seven days. Our teams will daily visit both villages to monitor the situation.” Verkui resident Mansukh Gamit said, “My cow died around two days ago. She was vaccinated by teams from Sumul Dairy around 10 days ago. My other cows are also infected.” When contacted, Sumul Dairy veterinary department head, Dr Rajnish Jadav, said that their teams have been on alert since the start of monsoon, as this is when lumpy skin disease cases are reported. "Our teams have started vaccination drive in different villages in Surat and Tapi districts,” he added. Sumul Dairy board member Jayesh Patel said that veterinary teams had in the last 10 days vaccinated over 1.5 lakh of the 5 lakh cattle in Surat district. "Over 600 cattle in Verkui village have been vaccinated. Such cases are being reported across the country since last two years,” he added
