Animal disease concerns raised

Ramesh Prasad Bhushal

KATHMANDU: Various pressure groups have expressed their concern over the mass animal sacrifice at the Gadhimai Fair, which will be held in Bariyapur, Bara, on November 24 and 25. The festival takes place once in every five years.



Even as the animal rights groups have stepped up the protest heat, the veterinarians are worried about the spread of contagious diseases at the event, arguably the biggest in the world. The goat plague (Peste des petits ruminants), a viral disease, was first detected in the country at the Gadhimai Fair around 15 years ago.



Dr Kishan Chand Thakuri, who is associated with Veterinary Epidemiology Centre, Tripureshwor, confirmed that the maiden outbreak at the religious festival led to several similar occurrences over the past few years. Thousands of goats have succumbed to the disease, which usually recurs after Dashain and Tihar,



“Most of the cases are reported after the festive season,” said Dr Arjun Aryal, who works at District Animal Office, Kathmandu. Take the case of this year. There has been as 50 outbreak of goat plague in the first six months. The population of goat in Nepal is around 0.8 million. Veterinarians maintained that the spread of animal diseases were rampant due to lack of proper quarantine system and ignorance among livestock farmers.