CHANDIGARH, April 23: Viewing seriously the panic caused by the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Punjab, cattle owners from villages bordering Punjab in this district are worried lest their animals fall victim to the highly infectious disease.The disease has already had a high toll in Punjab and many animals had fallen prey to the disease in Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind and Sirsa. Since Ambala district has common boundary with Punjab villages from allthe three sides, the animal-breeders have become extra cautious of the entry of cattle from Punjab through sale or purchase.The FMD, according to veterinary experts, is a highly contagious disease which spreads very fast in animals. A special kind of virus, identified as 0-11 sub-virus, it is considered to have been contracted through Pakistan. Experts say that there are around 100 types of viruses and 50 per cent of these are not found in Asian countries.Seized by the magnitude of the dreaded disease, an emergency state-level meeting of the district officers from the Animal Husbandry Department was convened at Hisar on April 3 to take stock of the situation in the state. The meeting decided to launch a state-level vaccination programme to cover all the animals, especially those in the villages bordering Punjab.Special squads were formed to vaccinate the animals. The squad would ensure that no village remained uncovered. Special arrangements had also been made by providing vaccination provision in Saketri, Barbala, Panjokhra, Babyal, Ugala, Gaushala Ambala City and Ambala Cantonment veterinary centres. Dr S.S. Thakur, in-charge of about a dozen such centres, said that the animals had been given HS (Haemorrhagic Septaremia and FMD-V (Foot and Mouth disease vaccination) to control the disease.The District Intensive Cattle Development Project Deputy Director Dr R M Kataria told ENS that vaccination was being done during the gazetted holidays also. Those who had already proceeded on leave had been recalled to join the vaccination programme.
