The Hindu Business Line : Goat plague: Red alert in 10 TN districts

THE Animal Husbandry Department has sounded a red alert in 10 districts in the State, following an outbreak of a viral disease `Pesteds Petits Ruminants', affecting goats and sheep.

According to official sources, more than 100 goats have died during the past few weeks.

First reported from Sivaganga district, where sheep-rearing is one the main occupations, the outbreak has been confirmed by the department officials with the testing of blood samples at the Central Referral Laboratory at Chennai.

The symptoms of the disease are continuous fever, diarrhoea, bronchitis, foot and mouth disease. If a goat contracted the virus, the animal would die within five days, it is said.

The districts alerted are Sivaganga, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Madurai, Tuticorin, Kanyakumari, Theni, Tirunelveli and Coimbatore.

While the PPR vaccine is made available in all the district hospitals, sub-centres and dispensaries in the districts, 13 teams comprising veterinary doctors, livestock inspectors and veterinary assistants have been formed to vaccinate the goats and sheep in the villages, the sources added.

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