In the article, State President of the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Welfare Association, K.A. Sengottuvel states, "In the recent days the disease has claimed the lives of hundreds of cows across the State as it was not taken seriously by the Animal Husbandry Department." Maybe if the threat was taken care of immediately, there would not have been so many deaths.
The article, "Foot-and-Mouth Disease Turning Epidemic", is written by P. Oppili. The date of the article is November 15, 2013. The newspaper that the article is located in is called The Hindu. The article can be founded at: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/footandmouth-disease-turning-epidemic/article5351734.ece
My first reaction to the article was to think that this was not a serious case that should concern me because it is effecting animals and not humans. However, the ranks of which the cattle are dying and the fact that the cause is unknown is unsettling.
The epidemic that could be most relatable to this cattle FMD epidemic would be Cowpox. While studying about Smallpox, Cowpox came into play when vaccination was experimented. Cowpox was originated from cows, and FMD has broken out to a large amount of cattle. These cases show just how much diseases can effect animals, and especially cattle.
There is controversy in the article over how much the government should step in and fix the problem at hand. Sengottuvel also said, “the government is carrying out the drive once a year whereas it should be carried out twice a year – once before the South-West and the North-East monsoons”. Vaccinations should not be taken lightly in any case of an epidemic where fatalities occur.
The article, while introducing a new epidemic, does not sell the idea that this problem needs to be fixed right away. Hundreds have died, but the fact that they are cattle and not human does not make the situation seem threatening. This may effect business for the people that own cattle, especially in this area, but it does not appeal to the majority of people. The article could've gone more in depth with how the death of cattle has effected the area and possible outcomes if the problem is never cured.
I found this article very interesting! It would never occur to me that animals can get infectious diseases that humans get. It also brings to mind should we vaccinate animals like we vaccinate humans? With this question, we know many animals are already immune to and sometimes just are not affected by some diseases humans get. Hopefully we see a decrease in the amount of cattle affected by this disease in the future.
ReplyDeleteI something like this might seem a little funny at first since it normally occurs in babies, but really the threat it poses for the food supply if it continues isn't funny at all. I think the CDC needs to step in here before things get too bad to fix.
ReplyDeleteI think it is unfortunate that this epidemic is not being taken as seriously due to the fact that it does not directly affect humans. As Liz was saying, I think it also raises the question of whether or not animals should be vaccinated as humans are. Personally, I believe that it would be beneficial in many ways to vaccinate the cattle if possible in order to present future outbreaks.
ReplyDeleteThis post reeled me in as soon as I read the headline. From prior knowledge, I know that FMD is a common viral infection contracted by infants and children. Never did I think that cattle could get it. In children, FMD is highly contagious in the first week of symptoms. After, the virus is present in the stool for several months. This fact can be directly related to the cattle. Farmers and average people use cattle manure to enrich their soils. If they do not know that the cattle has FMD then they could potentially spread FMD. This could be very dangerous and result in the loss of meat surplus and profits for farmers. I do not believe that there is a vaccine for FMD. I am curious to know what the mode of transmission is in the case of the cattle.
ReplyDeleteIt is very unfortunate that so many cattle are dying. In these small places, I'm sure the loss of animals is having a negative impact on the economy. I feel like the government should definitely step in and try to stop the disease, because although it isn't directly hurting humans, it could be hurting their wellbeing and way of life. Also, I am surprised to learn that Foot-and-Mouth disease is related to cowpox and smallpox because it is fairly common. Very interesting!
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