NEW DELHI, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of cattle due to the lumpy skin disease in India has doubled over the past three weeks, taking the total to nearly 100,000, confirmed a government official to Xinhua on Monday.
"The cumulative number of cattle deaths caused by lumpy skin disease has gone up to 97,435 as on Sept. 23, almost double from the 49,682 deaths recorded about three weeks ago," said the government official.
Junior Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Sanjeev Kumar Balyan on Aug. 30 said that the disease had affected 1.12 million cattle, including 49,682 deaths, across the country.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, the disease now has spread across 251 districts in 15 states, affecting over 2 million animals.
The number of cattle "susceptible" to the disease in these states stand at around 36 million, reported The Indian Express.
The ministry's data showed that the number of cattle affected by the disease stood at 2 million, and out of these 1.27 million animals had recovered.
A maximum number of affected animals have been reported from the state of Rajasthan, followed by Gujarat where the disease first originated.
The most deaths caused by the disease have also been reported from Rajasthan, where nearly 64,311 animals have died so far. This is followed by 17,721 cattle deaths in Punjab.
As many as 16 million cattle have been vaccinated against the disease till Sept. 23, said the government data. ■