45 of 123 bulls in Dhoni farm had contracted FMD

: Balu Bhaskar, manager of the Dhoni semen farm under the Kerala Livestock Development Board, said here recently that the movement of bull semen stock from the farm would resume within a month. The supply was suspended last month after 45 of the 123 high-value bulls on the farm had contracted the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

Talking to The Hindu, Dr. Bhaskar said “the outbreak of FMD had subsided and the 45 bulls that had been afflicted with the disease were recovering. Semen collection on the farm would resume after the stipulated three-month period since recovery of the last case.”

He said the serum would be sent to the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals, Palode, Thiruvanathapuram, for examination of antibody level of the bulls affected by the FMD. Dr. Bhaskar said steps were being taken to vaccinate all animals within 10-km radius of Dhoni farm.

‘Examine quality’

B. Ashok, Vice-Chancellor of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, told The Hindu over phone that “no semen should be supplied from the Dhoni farm till an expert committee examined the quality of the semen collected from FMD-affected bulls. Some of the affected animals would be carriers of the disease and distribution of its semen would be highly risky,” he said.

Loss of resistance

“The entire high value bull affected by FMD on Dhoni farm should be replaced with new bulls. The fact that the donor bull fell to the disease showed that the animal had lost its resistance power. Hence, its semen may not have high-quality standards,” he said. He said the veterinary university had sent a proposal to the government to constitute a scientific team to study the causes of the FMD epidemic.

Risk factor

Vinodkumar, Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine at the veterinary university said, “collecting semen from the FMD-affected bulls even after three months of cure would be highly risky as the animals would remain carriers of the disease for a very long period.” Dr. Vinodkumar said even the remaining stock of the semen should not be moved out of Dhoni farm because it could spread the disease through inanimate materials to the places where it is supplied.

Affected animals recovering, says farm manager

Steps to vaccinate all animals in 10-km radius