Author:
Hossain K. M. K.,Sarkar P. K.,Paul A. K.
Abstract
Background: Poultry and livestock are a leading sub-sector of agriculture, playing an important role to fulfill the protein requirements of the human diet and contributing to the national economy in Bangladesh. This sub-sector is often vulnerable due to frequent outbreaks of diseases in animals and unrest situations worldwide that hamper earning a profit up to the expected mark. Due to pandemic COVID-19, the Bangladesh government was bound to announce a countrywide lockdown and periodical restriction of movement in March 2020 to minimize the spread of the infection. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on poultry and livestock health.
Methods: This study was conducted at Keshabpur, Jashore before 3 months of lockdown, during lockdown and periodical restriction of movement in Bangladesh. Data on livestock and poultry were collected from the upazila livestock office register book. The impact of Covid-19 was calculated by comparing the number of animals brought to the veterinary hospital for treatment before, during, and after lockdown.
Results: The effect of COVID-19 was most severe in the poultry and livestock sub-sector from April to May 2020, as animals were not being advised or treated at the upazila livestock office and veterinary hospital. In poultry, Newcastle disease, parasitic infestation, duck plague, and pigeon pox were mostly recorded, whereas deficiency diseases, non-specific diarrhea, non-specific fever, and endoparasitism were frequently recorded in livestock. We do not know exactly how many poultry and livestock died due to failure of management and treatment during the period of lockdown, but certainly, COVID-19 hampered the health of animals and farmers were affected due to the outbreak of the pandemic COVID-19.
Conclusion: It might be concluded that the pandemic situation significantly hampered poultry and livestock health in Bangladesh.
Publisher
Bangladesh Society for Veterinary Medicine
Reference20 articles.
1. Abuselidze G, Slobodianyk A. Pandeconomic crisis and its impact on small open economies: A case study of COVID-19. International Scientific Conference on Energy Management of Municipal Facilities and Sustainable Energy Technologies. EMMFT 2021; 1258AISC: 718-728.
2. Akanda MR, Hasan MMI, Belal SA, Roy AC, Ahmad SU, Das R, Masud AA. A Survey on Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasitic Infection in Cattle of Sylhet Division in Bangladesh. Americal Journal of Phytomedicine and Clinical Therapeutics. 2014; 2 (7): 855-860.
3. Aktaruzzaman M, Rony SA, Islam MA, Yasin MG, Rahman AK. Concurrent infection and seasonal distribution of gastrointestinal parasites in cross-bred cattle of Sirajganj district in Bangladesh. Veterinary World. 2013 ;6(10).
4. BBS. Statistical year book on Bangladesh, Bangladesh Bureau Statistics, Ministry of Planning, Dhaka BBS. Livestock Economy at a Glance. LE Section, DLS. 2019.
5. Chaplyuk VZ, Alam RMK, Abueva MMS, Hossain MN, Humssi ASA. COVID-19 and Its Impacts on Global Economic Spheres, In: Popkova EG, Sergi BS (eds) Modern Global Economic System: Evaluational Development vs. Revolutionary Leap. ISC 2019. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems 2019; Springer Cham.Vol 198.