Foot and Mouth Disease caused deaths of 16 spotted deer in Pune zoo, reports confirm

Indian Express

2 days ago

The 16 chitals or spotted deer that died at the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park in Pune earlier this month were afflicted with Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), lab reports have confirmed, officials said.
'Based on the laboratory reports of samples, the expert committee has concluded that the primary cause of death of the chitals was due to FMD virus infection,' Rajkumar Jadhav, director, Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, said.
'This disease reduces the immunity of animals, especially under monsoon weather conditions, which increases stress levels and makes animals more vulnerable to fatal infections,' Jadhav added.
Earlier, Jadhav had said that there were 99 spotted deer in the facility, and 15 died between July 7 and 12.
The Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, which is owned by the Pune Municipal Corporation, had involved various government organisations to determine the cause of death of these animals. A team from Dr K N P College of Veterinary Science, Shirwal, and the Regional Disease Investigation Laboratory under the Maharashtra Department of Animal Husbandry was called in for the postmortem and collection of biological samples from the dead animals.
The collected biological samples were sent for testing to the ICAR-National Institute on Foot and Mouth Disease in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, the ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute in Bareilly, the Regional Wildlife Research and Training Centre in Nagpur, and the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal.
The test results and laboratory reports from Bhubaneswar matched with the earlier preliminary findings, Jadhav said, adding that as per the report from the National Institute on Foot and Mouth Disease, the chitals in the zoological park were infected with FMD virus.
A wild animal health advisory committee was organised on Friday to implement effective epidemic control measures in the zoo, Jadhav said, adding that it was attended by several experts.
The timely involvement of government institutions working in the region helped ensure that the postmortems were conducted and biological samples were collected, Jadhav said. 'Due to these efforts, the mortality among the animals was brought under control in a short period. Currently, the situation is under control, and the health of the affected animals is improving,' he said.
Meanwhile, the PMC has issued an advisory to all cattle owners and dairy owners in the city to check their animals for lumpy skin disease as per the directions of the state government.