A STRANGE BUT familiar fear prevails over the village of Kammana in Kerala’s Wayanad district since the beginning of the year. It was much like what the residents experienced around the same time last year, when the state reported India’s first covid-19 case. This time the virus is different and so is the host, but the disease is equally contagious, unknown, stealthy and debilitating.
“I don’t know how and when three of my five Jersey cows contracted the disease,” says Saji Joseph, a resident of Kammana. All of a sudden in the first week of January lumps started appearing on their body accompanied by high fever. Within a week, they have become emaciated, says Joseph, adding that he loses ₹700 a day because of reduced milk yield. In this village of mostly dairy farmers, 200 other households face the same predicament. Even infected bulls and buffaloes are unable to pull carts or perform farm activities. Local veterinarians have identified it as lumpy skin disease (LSD), a viral illness that causes prolonged morbidity in cattle and buffaloes. It appears as nodules of 2 to 5 cm diameter all over the body, particularly around the head, neck, limbs, udder and genitals. The lumps gradually open up like large and deep wounds. In some cases—under 10 per cent as per the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)— infected animal succumbs to the disease. While the LSD virus easily spreads by blood-sucking insects like mosquitoes, flies and ticks and through saliva and contaminated water and food, veterinarians say no treatment is available for the disease, which is being reported for the first time in India.
Bu hikaye Down To Earth dergisinin January 16, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Down To Earth dergisinin January 16, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
In leading role again
MOVIES AND WEB SERIES ARE ONCE AGAIN BEING SET IN RUSTIC BACKGROUNDS, INDICATING A RECONNECT BETWEEN CINEMA AND THE COUNTRYSIDE
One Nation One Subscription comes at a huge cost
As top US universities scrap big deals with top scientific publishers, India’s ONOS scheme seems flawed and outdated
Return of Rambhog
Bid to revive and sell the aromatic indigenous paddy variety has led to substantial profits for farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Terai region
Scarred by mining
Natural springs of Kashmir drying up due to illegal riverbed mining
Human-to-human spread a mutation away
CANADA IN mid-November confirmed its first human case of avian influenza, with a teenager in the British Columbia being hospitalised after contracting the H5N1 virus that causes the disease. The patient developed a severe form of the disease, also called bird flu, and had respiratory issues. There was no known cause of transmission.
True rehabilitation
Residents of Madhya Pradesh's Kakdi village take relocation as an opportunity to undertake afforestation, develop sustainable practices
INESCAPABLE THREAT
Chemical pollution is the most underrated and underreported risk of the 21st century that threatens all species and regions
THAT NIGHT, 40 YEARS AGO
Bhopal gas disaster is a tragedy that people continue to face
A JOKE, INDEED
A CONFERENCE OF IRRESPONSIBLE PARTIES THAT CREATED AN OPTICAL ILLUSION TO THE REALITY OF A NEW CLIMATE
THINGS FALL APART
THE WORLD HAS MADE PROGRESS IN MITIGATING EMISSIONS AND ADAPTING TO CLIMATE IMPACTS. BUT THE PROGRESS REMAINS GROSSLY INADEQUATE
