Anthrax In Koraput District

Vaccinating the targeted 5 lakh cattle before the onset of monsoon this year is impossible if the working conditions in the department of animal husbandry does not change for the better , S.K.Takri , CDVO of Koraput said . A three member team of experts under the chairmanship of U.V.N.Rana , Joint Director of National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), New Delhi , after visiting the Anthrax affected Lohaba village in Semiliguda block of Koraput district had advised the district authorities to carry out a drive for total vaccination of cattle in the district and more particularly in the seven blocks of Koraput district which were the most affected by Anthrax.

More importantly this was to be completed before the first spell of monsoon this year to stop the spores from spreading out to other places , Mr.Rana informed . Balakrishna Sahu , District Collector , responding to his advice immediately released Rs.5 Lakh from the NALCO Periphery Fund to go for vaccination of all the cattle in the district even with out paying any users’ fee by the beneficiary.

But with the field force of only 84 persons to assist in the entire district it was far from reality to reach the targeted immunization even in a year’s time , leave alone to complete within the time period of four months without taking the support of the 60 odd “Go Mitra” and “Pashupalan Sahayak” from the district who were given a four month long orientation to become self dependent in their locality while offering some of the basic health care to the cattle in their locality, Mr.Takri , the CDVO added .


While additional funds were required to ask their support , some more steps were also needed to support the office in facilitating transportation of staff members to the affected places for there were no means of transportation in the department including the CDVO himself , official sources added. Vaccination and spread of awareness on the disease and consuming the right food among the villagers being the only two measures , suggested by the team of experts which could be implemented to check the spread of the disease, a little support from the district administration in this regard could bring greater changes , Mr.Takri hoped .

Among the other suggestions , the team had advised the agricultural department to take measures to reduce the acidity of the soil by applying the sludge from the paper mills in the agricultural fields as manure . The forest department was suggested to take care to see that the dead bodies of wild animals were disposed off in the right manner . While it was an impossible act to reduce the acidic nature of a vast amount of land in the district it was also one of the rarest possibility to keep a close vigilant watch on the wild animals in the forests of the district , district level authorities said .

The team had collected cow dung , bones and blood mixed soil from the village to carry along with them for more investigation .
(EOM)