India Animal Health Summit 2022 | 09 Jul 2022

For Prelims: Diseases related to animals

For Mains: Economic and social Implications of Animal Health on Humans

Why in News?

Recently, the Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying inaugurated the First India Animal Health Summit 2022 in New Delhi.

  • Its India’s first-ever Animal health Summit organized by the Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) and the Agriculture Today Group.
  • Animal health is a critical component of One Health. One Health is an approach that recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and our shared environment.

What is the Importance of Animal Health?

  • The concept of animal health covers animal diseases, as well as the interplay between animal welfare, human health, environment protection and food safety.
  • Many known human infectious diseases start in animals, and climate change, for example, is having a significant impact on their transmission.
  • Although not all animal diseases are directly harmful to humans, they can have significant socioeconomic consequences as some people's occupations and lives are dependent on animal health.
    • 1 in 5 people depend on production animals for their income and livelihoods.
    • > 70% additional animal protein will be needed to feed the world by 2050.
    • > 20% of global animal production losses are linked to animal diseases.
  • The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly known as the OIE) has listed 117 illnesses. More than 50 wildlife illnesses may have major consequences for livestock and public health, as well as wildlife.
    • WOAH is an intergovernmental organization, that focuses on transparently disseminating information on animal diseases, improving animal health and welfare globally, and thus building a safer, healthier, and more sustainable world. India is a member.

What are the Diseases Related to Animals?

  • Monkeypox:
    • It’s a viral zoonotic disease among monkeys cause by infection with monkeypox virus that occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of central and west Africa and is occasionally exported to other regions.
    • Monkeypox virus belongs to the Orthopox virus genus in the family Poxviridae.
  • Lumpy skin disease (LSD):
    • It is a notifiable disease caused by the lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV).
    • It affects cattle and water buffalo, damaging animal health and causing significant production and trade losses.
  • African swine fever:
    • It is a highly contagious and deadly viral disease affecting both domestic and feral swine of all ages. ASF is not a threat to human health and cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans.
  • The foot-and-mouth disease:
    • it's a highly communicable disease affecting cloven-footed animals. It is characterized by fever, formation of vesicles, and blisters in the mouth, udder, teats, and on the skin between the toes and above the hoofs.
    • In India, the disease is widespread and assumes a position of importance in livestock industry.
    • The disease spreads by direct contact or indirectly through infected water, manure, hay and pastures. It is also conveyed by cattle attendants. It is known to spread through recovered animals, field rats, porcupines and birds.
  • Rabies:
    • it is a disease of dogs, foxes, wolves, hyaenas and in some places, it is a disease of bats which feed on blood.
    • The disease is passed to other animals or to people if they are bitten by an animal with rabies. The germs which cause rabies live in the saliva of the sick (rabid) animal. This is a killer disease but not every dog which bites is infected with rabies.
  • Avian Influenza (bird flu):
    • Avian Influenza, or bird flu as it’s commonly known, is a disease of birds. Further Some types of bird flu can pass to people, but this is very rare.

What are the Government Initiatives to curb Animal Diseases?

  • Livestock Health & Disease Control:
    • For promotion of health of livestock and animals, the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying implements a Centrally Sponsored Scheme “Livestock Health & Disease Control” (LH&DC), which envisages control & containment of economically important animal diseases by providing central financial assistance to the States.
  • National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP):
    • It is a flagship scheme launched by the Prime Minister in September 2019 for the control of Foot & Mouth Disease and Brucellosis by vaccinating 100% cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, and pig population for FMD and 100% bovine female calves of 4-8 months of age for brucellosi.
    • Objective is to control Foot & Mouth Disease (FMD) by 2025 with vaccination and its eventual eradication by 2030.

Source: PIB