Ramree Twsp official says disease not to blame for recent cattle deaths 

By Administrator 11 Sep 2023

DMG Newsroom
11 September 2023, Ramree

A spate of recent cattle deaths in villages on Saku and Magyi islands in Ramree Township, Arakan State, are not due to disease but rather are the result of a lack of care, according to an official of the township Livestock and Veterinary Science Department.
 
Officials from the township Livestock and Veterinary Science Department have been conducting field tests in villages on Saku and Magyi islands since September 8, following word that several cattle were reported to have died of an unknown disease.
 
“Mainly, the cattle deaths are caused by keeping the cows in the rain for a long time, without stables. Small cows suffer from dysentery and iron poisoning and become weak. If the old cows are left in the open air, their immunity will drop and they will die. No cattle died of unknown diseases,” insisted Dr. Ohn Kyaw Myint, deputy director of the Ramree Township Livestock and Veterinary Science Department.
 
Since early August, the affected cows have been showing symptoms including rashes, swollen limbs, drooling and skin shedding, with some succumbing to their ailments.
 
Cattle farmers say that after the staff of the Livestock and Veterinary Science Department visited and treated the suffering cows, they recovered to the point where they could move around ably.
 
“The cows recovered quickly and were able to eat well,” said U Kyaw Htay Win, a local man from Magyi Village on Saku Island.
 
According to cattle farmers, staff from the township Livestock and Veterinary Science Department conducted awareness campaigns to prevent additional cattle deaths.
 
“We were told that heat and cold are the cause of cattle death. We were advised how to corral the cows, feed them and monitor them regularly,” said Daw Aye Aye Naing, a local woman from Magyi Village.
 
Cows showed symptoms of no appetite, had fever and runny nose, and died of unknown causes in some villages in Ramree Township in July, according to local residents.
 
About 75 percent of the rural people in Arakan State are primarily engaged in agriculture, and cattle are used to plough the fields. Although mechanised farming is gradually developing, cattle are still commonly used as the “engines” of agriculture in rural Arakan State.