Lumpy Virus: 300 km Long Immune Belt to be built on the lines of Malaysia

• 09 Sep 2022

Why In News?

• On September 8, 2022, Special Secretary, Uttar Pradesh Livestock Department, Devendra Pandey said that in view of the increasing cases of Lumpy virus in the western districts of the state, the department has taken about 300 km from Pilibhit to Etawah on the lines of Malaysia. 10 km to the distance. A master plan has been prepared to cover with a wide immune belt.

Key Points

• Special Secretary Devendra Pandey said that this master plan has been approved by the state government. This belt will act as a border in a way and the lumpy virus will not be able to cross it and go from western Uttar Pradesh to eastern Uttar Pradesh.
• Preparations have been completed by the Animal Husbandry Department to make immune belts through vaccination. 100 percent vaccination will be done in animals in this entire belt. A special task force is being formed to monitor the operation. The task force will take care of tracking and treating animals infected with the Lumpy virus.
• Along with keeping a close watch on infected animals, arrangements will be made to stop them within the immune belt. In fact, such an effort has been made in Malaysia in the year 2020 to prevent animal infection, the results of which were very positive.
• This belt, to be built on the lines of Malaysia, will pass through 23 blocks of five districts. The Immune Belt would pass through Bisalpur, Barkheda, Lalorikheda, Marori and Amaria development blocks of Pilibhit district via Khudaganj, Nigohi, Sidhauli, Bhawal Kheda, Kant, Jalalabad and Mirzapur development blocks of Shahjahanpur district to Kayamganj, Shamsabad and Rajepur development blocks of Farrukhabad district. It will go up to Kurawali, Sultanganj and Ghirour development blocks of Mainpuri district and Badhpura, Jaswantnagar, Saifai, Basrehar and Takha development blocks of Etawah.
• Most of the cases of lumpy virus in the state have been reported in the western districts only. 23 districts of the state are affected by the lumpy virus. Of these, the highest number of cases have been reported in Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur. At the same time, the virus is spreading rapidly in Mathura, Bulandshahr, Baghpat, Hapur, Meerut, Shamli and Bijnor.
• So far, 21,619 bovines of 2,331 villages of the state have been infected due to the lumpy virus. In view of the severity of the infection, the government has started a massive vaccination drive and so far 5,83,600 bovines have been vaccinated.
• It is noteworthy that lumpy virus is a dangerous virus found in animals. It travels from the body of one animal to the body of another by certain species and insects of flies and mosquitoes. Animals infected with the lumpy virus lose their appetite as they have a high fever. Apart from this, round raised lumps are formed throughout the body including face, neck, snout, eyelids. At the same time, swelling in the legs, lameness and the ability to work in the male animal are also reduced. Sometimes animals also die.