Foot and mouth disease is found in cattle and is a common disease in the cattle population in India being endemic in the Asian – African continent. FMD is a viral disease of ruminants and is a widespread disease. With SAT1, SAT2, SAT3, ASIA, O, A, and C, this disease affects both, the cattle as well as the Dairy farmer adversely. According to a study, Cattle’s quality of lifelong with productive life was seriously hampered with around Rs.18,000 – 22,000 Crores loss annually incurred. India has 528 million FMD susceptible animals including a wide variety of animals such as cows, buffalo, goats, etc. with the disease being so dangerous and widespread. Let us understand about Foot and mouth disease and how it affects the cattle.
Foot and mouth Disease – It is a viral disease caused by the aphthous virus of the family Picornaviridae which affects the cloven-footed animal species such as cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, etc. also affects wildlife such as bison, elephants, antelopes, and deer being particularly susceptible. Foot and mouth disease commonly abbreviated as FMD and is locally called as मुंहपका-खुरपकारोग in Hindi local language. This disease manifests itself as vesicles or blisters erupting on the foot, udder as well as mouth followed by erosion of the affected areas. The results of FMD are restlessness, excessive salivation, discomfort, drop in milk yield and production, abortion, lameness, and drop infertility. Young animals are affected as the virus causes myocarditis (inflammation of the Myocardium of the heart) and death. In susceptible populations, the morbidity rate or infection rate is as high as 100% which means if an infected animal is introduced to the herd or the susceptible crowd is accidentally exposed to the virus the chances are high of spreading the virus to the herd. It is an infectious disease.
Signs and symptoms
The major signs observed for the FMD disease are located at the foot and mouth region of cattle. The other signs and symptoms of FMD are
1. The increase in the body temperature for 2-3 days with the incubation period of the virus is 1-8 days
2. Vesicles formation at mouth region, foot, udder
3. These vesicles may rupture causing erosion leaving a raw scar
4. Drooling of sticky, foamy, and stringy saliva from the mouth
5. Reduction in food consumption
6. Immunity inevitable falls due to the ongoing viral infection
7. Weakness and being lethargic
8. Loss of body weight is caused both due to the ongoing infection as well as secondary anorexia.
9. Young animals affected with the FMD virus suffer worse. Myocarditis and death are very rampant in young ones.
10. Production-related signs are observed as well. These are – drop-in milk yield, abortions, reduced capacity of milking, infertility, and fertility rate goes down, recovered cows still lower the milk yield as compared to pre-infection yield rate.
FMD treatment in cattle – How to prevent foot and mouth disease in cattle?
The home remedies for protecting the cattle against FMD should be known to the farmers. The FMD is a viral disease and it spreads through aerosols, contaminated fomites – milking equipment, infected handling instruments, clothing, shoes, transport vehicles, could be the source of spreading the disease. Infected water can also spread the disease further. There are the basic symptoms of aggravating the disease creating heavy losses to the farmers and the animal health. FMD is a dangerous disease that spreads quickly causing morbidity or infection at a much higher rate than anticipated. The disease can be easily prevented by –
1. Vaccination - The farm animals require a regular vaccination. Vaccines are an efficient tool for protecting and safeguarding cattle from the threat of viral diseases such as FMD. The vaccine schedule of FMD is – 1st dose vaccine – to be given at the age of 4 months and above, 2nd dose – booster dose to be given 1-month post the previous dose. Subsequent dose – every 6 months to annually.
2. Ensure proper cleanliness and sanitation –cleanliness and sanitation is an important step that should never be ignored. There are many diseases and infections which flare up due to poor sanitation. Having a good management practice and sanitation protocol is critical for health management for animals as well as animal handlers or dairy farmers. Few things to keep to ensure -
· Ensure cleanliness of the cattle-like taking bath, grooming, dung, etc.
· Ensure cleanliness of milking apparatus, thoroughly cleaning of milking apparatus before milk collection
· Ensure cleanliness of farm helpers or persons who are milking the cattle.
· Ensure that the dairy farm is well protected. All vehicles entering the farm must be sanitized properly.
3. Boosting immunity- Immunity is the key to survival. Immunity plays an important role in protecting the bodies from harmful pathogens such as viruses, bacterias, etc. techniques such as good quality ratio, stress-free and healthy lifestyle, immune-modulators, etc.
FMD outbreak –
In case of an FMD outbreak nearby there is a threat your farm could come under the clutches of this viral outbreak. The Goel Vet Pharma’s Novel Homeopathic drug Foomasule no.1 is an efficient tool to protect your lived cattle in case of an FMD outbreak. Foomasule no.1 gives immunity against all strains of the FMD virus and develops resistance within 48 -72 hours. It is effective even in conditions where there is the constraint of separating diseased animals from the herd.
Fighting FMD – It is important to isolate infected animals and protect the ones who are immunologically competent. For affected animals, the treatment – saline antibiotics prevent any secondary infection, vitamins, and treating the local lesions. Foomasule No.1 is a homeopathic drug that helps to combat the disease. Foomasule No.2 responds against all the trains of infection and cures mouth lesions and the animal starts grazing. This is the reduced salivation which corresponds to the start of the recovery phase. The foot lesions even start drying up faster preventing any exogenous growth between footpads.
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