CHANDIGARH, INDIA, 12 Mar 2001: The foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), one of the most contagious animal diseases now ravaging Britain has affected animals in some parts of Haryana and Punjab, though the situation is not alarming, officials from the two states asserted. The disease, which has claimed 11 animals in Haryana and 23 in Punjab, has been checked from spreading. Director, animal husbandry of Punjab, G S Chahal reported that only one village, Ghaloti in Ludhiana district, had reported some cases of FMD and the department teams immediately administered “ring vaccination” to animals to check the spread of the disease. He said 20,000-25,000 animals have been vaccinated in the state. This minimal response stands in stark contrast to that of the UK, where every animal within three kilometers of infected farms — hundreds of thousands of sheep and cows — are being slaughtered to contain the disease.
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