NEW DELHI, Sept 27 (NNN-PTI) – The death toll of cattle due to the lumpy skin disease in India doubled over the past three weeks, taking the total to nearly 100,000, confirmed a government official yesterday.
“The cumulative number of cattle deaths caused by lumpy skin disease has gone up to 97,435 as on Sept 23, almost double from the 49,682 deaths recorded about three weeks ago,” said the government official.
Junior Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, on Aug 30 said, the disease had affected 1.12 million cattle, including 49,682 deaths, across the country.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, the disease now has spread across 251 districts in 15 states, affecting over two million animals.
The number of cattle “susceptible” to the disease in these states stand at around 36 million, reported The Indian Express.
The ministry’s data showed that, the number of cattle affected by the disease stood at two million, and out of these 1.27 million animals had recovered.
A maximum number of affected animals have been reported from the state of Rajasthan, followed by Gujarat, where the disease first originated.
The most deaths caused by the disease have also been reported from Rajasthan, where nearly 64,311 animals have died, so far. This is followed by 17,721 cattle deaths in Punjab.
As many as 16 million cattle have been vaccinated against the disease till Sept 23, said the government data.– NNN-PTI
