'I Met Herders, Who Lost Their Cows To Lack of Knowledge on Lumpy Virus'

Isolation centres have been set up in Gwalior to treat the infected cows.

Cows in Gwalior dying due to lumpy skin disease.

(Image courtesy: Namita Chauhan/The Quint)

I am a resident of Lalitpur Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh. On 19 October, I went to Gwalior to see meet my grandmother. When I reached her place, I noticed her ailing cow was suffering from a deadly virus called Lumpy Skin Disease. She was very sick and had developed lumps/boils all over her skin throughout her body.

Later, I realised that several cows over here have been affected by Lumpy Skin Disease. Due to expensive treatment and lack of knowledge about the disease, several people have lost their cows. Even my grandmother lost her cow.

Shivkali Tomar, one of the cow owners, who lives near my grandmother's house was visibly distressed when I met her. Her cow also succumbed to the deadly skin disease.

"I didn't know about the disease. If anyone would have told me then I could have done something. I didn't know what kind of disease it is and that's why I lost my cow."

Shivalik Tomar, Cattle Herder

There are several cow owners in the city who are living under the stress of losing their cows. Sunita Srinivas is one of them.

"My cow was doing great and used to eat properly. One day, she died. We thought, she would have eaten something foul and fallen sick. She had developed lumps on her skin. Then, she stopped eating. We waited for 2-3 days, but her condition didn't improve."

Sunita Srinivas, Cattle Herder

"We are in distress. We didn't know what sort of disease suddenly came. When we asked the other people in the locality, we got to know that many people here have lost their cows due to this," adds Sunita.

Many Reached to Doctors Seeking Help

To save their cows, people have reached out to the doctors too.

"I called Dr Suraj. He told me that my cow has a 104°F fever. He gave six injections and told us that the treatment is expensive. We requested him to carry on with the treatment. He charged us Rs 1,000 and gave a medicine worth Rs 500, and like this, he did the treatment for five days and said that she will recover. This is the spray and the syrup he advised," says Buchiya Biharan.

While some of the infected cows have recovered, for many the road ahead seems difficult.

Amidst The Outbreak, Rumours Affect Cow Milk Sale

Several people in Gwalior are scared of consuming cow milk of infected cows. They think it will spread the virus to humans. This can be gauged from the sale of packaged milk. Mukesh Sharma, a general store owner, shared his sale figures.

"Due to the virus, several people have stopped buying cow's milk, because of which, sale of the branded packaged milk has increased by at least 25%. These days people are using packaged milk more."

Mukesh Sharma, General Store Owner

While the government is saying that all these rumours are baseless and people need not worry about drinking the milk of infected cows after its been thoroughly boiled.

"The virus doesn't spread by consuming the affected cow milk or by touching them. Cow milk can be consumed after boiling it. Fake news and videos are spreading this misinformation."

YS Rajput, Nodal Officer & Veterinary Surgeon

Isolation Centres Set Up In Gwalior

I visited a temporary isolation centre set up in Gwalior, where cows suffering from Lumpy Skin Disease are kept and veterinary doctors are trying to treat the ailing cows. "We are treating them as per the symptoms shown by them," says YS Rajput, Nodal Officer & Veterinary Surgeon

"We advise cow owners, having healthy cows or ones with mild symptoms, to give homemade remedies. Take extra care of their cattle and feed them with good quality food, so that, the spread of the virus can be controlled," added YS Rajput. 

(All ‘My Report' branded stories are submitted by citizen journalists to The Quint. Though The Quint inquires into the claims/allegations from all parties before publishing, the report and the views expressed above are the citizen journalist's own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for the same.)