1. Animal Disease Control Project
implementing officers
constraints while undertaking
Foot and Mouth Disease
control in Kerala
Dr. Subin K.Mohan, MVSc
PhD Scholar
Dairy Extension Division
NDRI
Native: Kerala
subinkmohan@gmail.com
09541266310, 09633020920, 04872371808
Major Advisor: Dr. P. J. Rajkamal, Professor, Dept. of Extension, KVASU

2. Methodology
• Constraints were known from a group of thirty veterinary
surgeons who were working as implementing officers of
Animal Disease Control Project (ADCP) in the Animal
Husbandry Department of Kerala.
• Purposive sample selection
• Open ended schedule technique
• Depending upon the percentage of respondents, agreeing to a
constraint, it was categorized as a most relevant (>66%),
relevant (33-66%) and less relevant (<33%) constraints.

3. Most relevant constraints
• Unwillingness towards vaccination due to
reduction in milk yield (80%)
• Door step vaccination is laborious (77%)
• Possible chances of vaccination after effects
like abscess, abortion and lameness (70%)

4. Relevant constraints
• False or exaggerated media reports developed a
negative attitude towards vaccination among
dairy farmers (53%)
• To treat and cure any post vaccination ailment
becomes the responsibility of the veterinary
surgeon (50%)
• Farmers have negative attitude towards FMD
vaccination (47%)
• Routine hospital work gets disturbed (47%)

5. Contd..
• Lack of awareness of dairy farmers about FMD
vaccination (43%)
• Difficulty in maintaining cold chain due to
unexpected power failure (40%)
• Farmers don’t feel the need of vaccination (40%)
• Farmers protested as their vaccinated animals
also contracted FMD (40%),

6. Contd..
• Uncontrolled animal movements created difficulties in
animal disease control (40%)
• Making the farmers convinced during door step
vaccination is difficult and time consuming (40%)
• Less participation of dairy farmers in seminars or group
discussions and lecture classes about FMD (37%)
• Dairy farmer’s lack of trust in vaccines (37%)
• Vaccination stress related health problems are more
during summer season (37%)

7. Contd..
• Door step vaccination is difficult during peak summer
and rainy season (37%)
• Old dairy farmers showed more reluctance to
vaccinate their cattle (33.34%)
• Difficulty in changing the attitude of old dairy farmers
(33.34%)
• Lack of publicity about details of FMD vaccination
(33.34%)
• Farmers won’t allow ear tagging fearing maggot
wound (33.34%).

8. Less relevant constraints
• Farmers with less experience in dairying, education and
herd size showed reluctance (30%)
• Farmers showed reluctance to bring their cattle to
vaccination camps (30%)
• Lack of support of local leaders and politicians (30%)
• FMD control process was laborious due to the lack of a
permanent disease management system (30%)

9. Contd..
• Involvement of Kudumbasree (WSHG) units not up to the mark
(26%)
• Fund for publicity and transportation is not sufficient (26%)
• Farmers believe that there is no need to vaccinate animals reared
in isolated homesteads (26%)
• Farmers won’t allow any others except veterinary surgeons to
vaccinate (26%)
• Some farmers showed reluctance to control their livestock
during vaccination (23%)

10. Contd..
• Difficulty to treat other animals after treating FMD
contracted animals (23%)
• Milk society authorities have a negative attitude
towards vaccination (20%)
• Farmers let their cattle for grazing even during
outbreak (20%)
• Risk in maintaining cold chain due to monthly issue of
vaccines (20%)
• Annual vaccination is followed even though the
immunity of the vaccine is for 9 months (17%)

11. Contd..
• Farmers won’t allow vaccinating male calves (17%)
• Cost of vaccination was felt high to many (17%)- was
charged only 5 rupees in 2007-09
• Difficulty in disseminating information about the
importance of FMD vaccination to those farmers who
had local sale of milk (13%)
• Farmers lack the knowledge about symptoms of FMD
and hence misunderstand with other related diseases
(13%),

12. Contd..
• Problems created by the persisting orthodox
caste system (10%)- like cow slaughter
• Shortage of medicine in government stores
(7%) - for post epidemic treatments
• Farmers prefer individual paid vaccination
than mass vaccination by buying vaccine from
private veterinary stores (3%)

13. Policy suggestions
• Separate FMD surveilling, monitoring and
management machinery should be
implemented on district basis
• Area based FMD eradication strategies
should be adopted

14. Strategy recommendations
Awareness strategies
• More publicity through media like newspaper, radio
and TV like commercial advertisements between
most rated programmes.
• Involvement of influential people like film stars in
publicity.
• Special emphasis on awareness programmes for un-
organized sector dairy farmers

15. Contd..
Technological/ Technical strategies
• Allotment of uninterrupted power supply system
(UPS) of at least 5 hrs back up to veterinary
hospitals.
• Vaccine supply to veterinary hospitals in batches
of less withhold time.
• Mobile FMD control units.
• Mobile extension units for animal disease
awareness

16. Contd..
Collaborative strategies
• Empowering and involving groups like SHGs,
farmer organizations etc. in mass vaccination
and awareness programme like ASHA
programme in Kerala
• Collaboration of veterinary universities (using
veterinary students in mass vaccination
programmes), dairy cooperatives etc. in FMD
management

17. Legal strategies
• Reinforcement of laws to make animal
quarantine measures mandatory in inter-state
check posts
• SPCA (PCA) authority and power to veterinary
officers of their corresponding jurisdiction

18. Thank You