Incidence, Serotyping and Epidemiology of Foot and Mouth Disease in Kashmir

Abstract

A study on the incidence and epidemiological pattern of Foot and Mouth Disease with respect to season, age group, breed and causative serotypes involved in Kashmir valley is reported. The rate of infection was highest (47.12%) in July (Summer) followed by September (39.32 %) (early Autumn). The rate of infection was 17.13% and 4.16% during spring and winter seasons respectively. Crossbred cattle (Jersey x Local hill and Holstein x Local Hill) exhibited severest clinical signs. Non-descript local hill cattle were also affected; however pathological lesions were mild. The average age group of affected cattle with high morbidity and mortality was 0-2 years. Viral typing of the 65 samples of suspected material identified 49 (75.28%) as FMD type “O” strain, 6 (9.23%) as type “A” and 3 (4.67%) as Asia 1 whereas no virus was recovered from 7 (10.77%) cases.