BHUBANESWAR: Union Agriculture minister Radhamohan Singh will inaugurate the International Centre for Foot and Mouth Disease (ICFMD) at Argul in Khurda district near the capital city on the occasion of Odisha's foundation day on April 1. This centre will conduct research on how to control foot and mouth disease (FMD) of cattle and buffaloes.This centre will serve as a regional resource laboratory for countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). There is no such type of centre in the country. It has a state-of-the-art laboratory which is a unique and first of its kind in Asia continent, claimed its project director Dr Bramhadev Pattnaik.Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), an autonomous body coordinating agricultural education and research in India, has funded for the establishment of this centre. The state government has provided 100 acres of land for the centre. Estimated cost of the project started in April 2014 is Rs 450 crore, official sources said.Pattnaik said the centre will conduct research on different viruses of FMD and invent vaccines. It has the facility to keep at least 20 cattle for research purpose. "If any cattle suffered from FMD, we will bring it to our centre to know the nature of the virus and conduct study on it," he added.The centre has the facility for safe handling and storage of live FMD virus that essentially is required for control of the disease."Our country produces vaccines for the disease. But we are working on new generation FMD vaccine for India and south Asia. We are the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reference centre for South Asia for control and eradication of the disease," said the director.FMD is a trans-boundary disease mainly of cattle and buffalo. It is caused by FMD virus of different antigenic types. It spreads very easily. There is a blister in animal's mouth which leads to ulcer in later stage. Foot is also affected in the process. Due to this, animal can't eat properly, cows and buffaloes don't give milk and bullock can't plough."The disease causes drop in milk production, mortality in calves and increases the cost of isolation and treatment. The annual direct loss on account of FMD in India is estimated at around Rs 23,000 crore due to these problems," said JS Gandhi of the National Dairy Development Board.According to 2012 census, Odisha has 1.29 crore bovine population (cattle and buffalo). The official data said economic loss due to FMD outbreaks in Odisha is accounted to an approximate amount of Rs 64, 42,050 in 2013-14. The figure is Rs 2,74,950 in 2014-15 and Rs 79,39,350 in 2015-16.

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