Pointing out that food-and-mouth disease in cattle continued to haunt farmers despite vaccination, veterinarians stressed the need for herd immunity to prevent the disease.
“Herd immunity is very important to prevent the disease from affecting even vaccinated animals,” said G. Dhinakar Raj, Director, Centre for Animal Health Studies (CAHS) of the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University.
He said cattle should be vaccinated when they are three months old and they should be given another shot in the sixth month.
“Then vaccination should be given twice a year. If we follow the protocol, we can completely prevent the disease by 2023-24,” he said, when farmers complained of the disease affecting vaccinated animals.
Dr. Kumaravel said wounds in the mouth and legs should be cleaned with potassium permanganate to facilitate healing and prevention of maggots in wounds.
