The death of cattle due to unknown diseases has created panic among the cattle farmers of Ishwardi upazila of Pabna.
Four cows have died of unknown diseases at Abdul Hannan Malithar Dairy Farm in Mirkamari village of Salimpur union of the upazila in the last one week. Six to seven more have been infected.
Salimpur UP Chairman Abdul Majid Bablu Malitha confirmed the information.
Pabna District Livestock Officer Dr Al Mamun Hossain Mandal and Ishwardi Upazila Livestock Officer Dr Rafiqul Islam visited the dairy farm on Friday.
Abdul Hannan, owner of the dairy farm, said he had a total of 17 cows on his farm. To protect the cows from hoof disease vaccine was given in advance from Ishwardi Upazila Livestock Officer's Office. An official named Abdul Mannan visited the farm on June 15 and vaccinated 17 cows.
Abdul Hannan alleged that after the vaccination, one of them fell ill and died on the evening of June 15, two more died on the next day at around 12:30 pm and another one died at 5 am on June 19. A total of four cows died.
He immediately informed the district and upazila livestock officer about the matter and was perplexed as 4 of his cows died in a consecutively.
At the current market price, the price of the four dead cows will be Tk 6 lakh, said Abdul Hannan. He is also worried about the other 13 cows. It is learned that other farmers of the upazila are in panic as cows died due to unknown diseases.
Meanwhile, Pabna District Livestock Officer Dr Al Mamun Hossain Mandal visited the dairy farm in Salimpur on Friday to verify the cause of death.
There he spoke to the farm’s owner, Abdul Hannan, and listened to the details of the incident. Ishwardi Upazila Livestock Officer Dr Rafiqul Islam and Salimpur UP Chairman Abdul Majid Bablu Malitha were present on the occasion.
When contacted, Ishwardi Upazila Livestock Officer Dr. Rafiqul Islam said they were trying to find out the cause of death of the cows at the dairy farm.
Last Friday, District Livestock Officer Abdul Hannan visited the dairy farm. In his presence, samples were collected from the bodies of the dead cows and sent to the laboratory. The cause of death of the cows will be known in the next two-three days.