FMD major constraint for dairy sector

Al Mamun Harun Ur Rashid :
Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), a highly contagious and economically devastating viral cattle ailment, is the major constraint for the country’s dairy sector as it decreases productivity rate by over 30 percent along with a financial loss of about Tk 1,000 crore annually.
Animal health experts said that only two doses of anti-FMD vaccines in a year can control the prevalence of this endemic disease in the most cost-effective way.
But acute shortfall of vaccines, poor planning, lack of mass awareness, high vaccine cost and scanty field level data are the major causes hindering to control FMD effectively, they observed.
Department of Livestock (DLS) and Livestock Research Institute (LRI) sources said that the national annual demand for vaccines is around 7.5 crore doses whereas the availability of doses is below 25 percent against the total
ruminants – cow, buffalo, goat and sheep – over 5.67 crore.
“We can manufacture around 19.80 lakh doses annually. It is not sufficient for the national demand,” LRI Director Dr. Amalendu Ghosh told the New Nation recently.
About the capacity building, he said, “Right now there is no such programme, but Asian Development Bank is conducting a feasibility study on vaccine production. If this project is run, it will benefit us.”
Along with local production, two private companies also import anti-FMD vaccines, but the amount is not satisfactory, sources said.
The government has multiple initiatives to increase the production of milk and meat to meet the growing demand of dietary protein. Besides, the government also wants to create direct and indirect jobs and women empowerment in this sector.
But, experts said, all these efforts will end in smoke if cattle diseases, especially FMD are not controlled because the disease is the source of huge economic loss and unemployment.
Veterinarians said the FMD is a communicable viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals which spreads quickly by air, water and soil, if not controlled by timely vaccination.
They said that there are seven types of FMD, but only Asia-1, A and O strains are prevalent in Bangladesh.
They also said that the positivity rate of FMD is more in crossbred (77.5%) than in native cattle (56.5%) and it is more in female than male cattle.
“FMD immensely reduces the productivity of cattle to half or below. It directly affects milk and meat production and reproductive health of cattle. Besides, FMD also causes death of adult and calf animals, body weight loss of the fattening cattle,” Deputy Project Director of Livestock and Dairy Development Project (LDDP) Dr. Mohammad Shakif-ul-Azam said.
“A farmer has a huge investment in rearing crossbred cattle for milk or meat. When his farm is infected by FMD, he will never get optimum benefits rather face dire economic loss,” he added.
Farmers who inject anti-FMD vaccines to cattle regularly get best results, he added.
“I am very careful about FMD. I see many farmers who do not care for anti-FMD vaccines. They lose animals. Their milk and meat production is also low,” Abu Bakkar Siddique, a cattle farmer in Panchagarh Sadar, said.
“I inject my 25 cows twice a year. My animals have not been infected with FMD yet,” he added.
Thakurgaon District Livestock Officer Dr. Md Abul Kalam Azad said, “As a bordering district, FMD very often affects our local animals especially during Eid-ul-Azha. We have around six lakh animals in the district. But the local vaccine is not available. The imported vaccine is very costly about Tk 700 – Tk 800.”
“The government should increase local production. If farmers get it available, they will have trust to set up animal farms,” he suggested.
Experts said that disease-free, especially FMD free cattle can open a window of opportunities in terms of economic and social benefits as well as contribute to achieve various components of Sustainable Development Goals including health, employment, and women empowerment.
Currently livestock contribution to GDP is 1.9 percent and the annual rate of growth is 3.1 percent.
“We have two major problems to control FMD. One is vaccines and another is mass awareness. Under LDDP we provide free vaccines twice in a year among the LDDP producer groups in 57 districts. We are getting good results,” Dr. Md. Golam Rabbani, LDDP Chief Technical Coordinator said.
“There is a common belief among the farmers that if anti-FMD vaccine is pushed once, it is not necessary anymore. But it is a wrong idea. We do mass campaign programmes for building awareness,” he added.
“Though we have paucity of vaccines, we should increase production for dairy sustainability” he asserted.
Dr. Arabinda Kumar Saha, Animal Health Expert (National) said, “The government wants to improve the dairy sector. But animal diseases, especially FMD, are a main constraint to the sector’s development.”
“Availability of local vaccines is a must. So the policymakers have to take FMD seriously right now,” he added.
“The medium to large scale farmers want to invest in dairy farm. But they stare at the DLS and the government for support in disease control and prevention,” he said.
About the measures to control FMD, he said, “The disease cannot be controlled overnight. It needs progressive control. We are formulating a National FMD Control Strategy. It will show the path as to how to control the disease effectively.”
“As the crossbred animals are more susceptible to FMD, these animals and its surrounding cattle can be vaccinated before mass vaccination. LDDP is doing it. Besides, a disease-free zone can also be considered, if possible,” he suggested.