October 31, 2013

India's cattle population suffers from Brucellosis disease

Brucellosis, a disease which is contagious and causes miscarriages in animals and pregnant women, has affected more than 10% of cattle in Punjab and dairy farmers are simply unaware of it.

According to experts, the disease has no treatment so far, and slaughtering is the only way out to prevent its spread which is not allowed in India.

"It is a disease which causes abortions in animals during six to nine months of pregnancy and if spread to humans, women get the same problem," said J P S Gill, director, School of Public Health and Zoonosis, GADVASU.

Not only cattle, but also horse, sheep, goat, pig and other animals get infected. During pregnancy all the infection attacks uterus, he said.

The two-day annual meeting of Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, on this disease began at GADVASU.

S R Rao, advisor, Department of Biotechnology, said that "temperature, night chills, joint pains, body ache are common symptoms in human beings of this disease".

Gill said that "recently a research has also found presence of virus even in marine animals which is a grave cause for concern". He said that brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease transmitted from animals to human beings through direct contact and consumption of raw milk and milk products. "It is still an uncontrolled serious public health problem in many developing countries including India. In livestock, brucellosis results in reduced productivity, abortions and infertility leading to considerable economic losses," said Gill.

He said that to date there is no treatment for the said disease. "While foreign nations slaughter animals, here it is not allowed. All we can do is to isolate animal from farm. In humans, antibiotics can only control the spread, if damage has not reached beyond a level. If virus has reached the joints, then it is irreversible," he said.