Indore: Lumpy Skin Disease outbreak in Semda village, villagers gherao official team for its denial on cattle deaths

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Residents of Semda village, in Depalpur, ‘gheraoed’ the team of veterinary doctors and SDM which reached there on Wednesday to take note of the conditions of the outbreak of lumpy skin disease of cattle. The residents were enraged by the denial of the team about the number of deaths of cattle in the village due to the deadly disease and alleged that the officials were ignoring the proofs to ‘lie’ about the count of cattle affected.

However, the officials who had confirmed only one death due to the disease, accepted that over 20 head of cattle had died due to the disease after examining the proofs given by the villagers.

A team of veterinary doctors, including Dr Shashank Jumde and Dr Mukesh Mane, led by SDM Ravi Verma, reached Semda village on Wednesday to learn about the conditions of the spread of lumpy skin disease.

The villagers claimed that over 200 head of cattle had been affected by the disease as they had such symptoms as nasal discharge, lacrimation, skin disorders and fever.

 ‘At least 20 head

of cattle have died’

‘We reached Semda village after complaints about the spread of lumpy disease. After inspection and getting confirmation of the cause of death by the block medical officer, deaths of at least 20 head of cattle have been confirmed. The figure might increase further as the team is still conducting inspections. The team has started taking measures to control the spread of the disease by isolating the affected animals, along with launching a vaccination drive for cattle in a five-kilometre radius’ —    SDM Ravi Singh

 ‘Cattle dying, but officials denying’

The sarpanch of the village told the media that more than 25 cows had died due to the deadly disease in the village and around 200 cows were ill in the past 15 days. ‘We’re trying to save our cattle by all means, including their treatment and by praying for their good health, but nothing is working. Officials were denying the fact, but they’ve now accepted the fact after we showed them the actual situation,’ the sarpanch said.