Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Animal husbandry is among the most important branches of agriculture in Azerbaijan. Vast pastures and lack of cropland in the mountainous regions of Azerbaijan gave further impetus to the development of animal husbandry in the country.

Despite the fact that there have been no cases of anthrax cattle infection in Azerbaijan since 2005, preventive measures are regularly taken to prevent the infection of farm animals with anthrax and other dangerous diseases, Ramiz Salmanov, sector chief at the Agrarian Services Agency, said at a press conference devoted to the conduct of epizootic activities.

He noted that measures to prevent foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) are held only in the cooler months. In January-June, he added, these measures have already been carried out and will continue when the heat subsides.

"As for the prevention of rabies infection, all animals are vaccinated within the site of infection," Salmanov mentioned.

He informed that Azerbaijan constantly monitors the state of livestock health and in the event of the discovery of any new disease, Azerbaijan immediately notifies the neighboring countries, as other countries do.

Salmanov added that no country is insured against virus penetration. He said that due to the increase in migration between neighboring countries, nodular dermatitis appeared in the Kura-Araz basin in Azerbaijan about five years ago.

"Today, over 2.6 million heads of large and small stock have been vaccinated against this disease," Salmanov noted.

Besides, he pointed out that no cases of cattle death from any disease have been recorded in Azerbaijan.

Salmanov noted that the coat of healthy animals is smooth and the mucous membrane is always wet.

“When the temperature rises even for one degree, the nasal mucosa becomes dry, and the animal may die from parasitic disease if it is not taken to the vet in time. Often, with parasitic diseases, the veterinarian is addressed only after 24 hours, when it is too late to take any measures. The main causative agents of these diseases are mites,” he added.

In turn, Yolchu Khanveli, main consultant of the Agrarian Services Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture, noted that this year two monitoring sessions were held to prevent bird flu, adding that no cases of infection with this disease were detected.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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