Ridiculous claim by Maharashtra Congress chief; blames Nigerian cheetahs for lumpy virus

Congress leader Nana Patole has accused the Centre of causing deliberate harm to farmers by bringing Cheetahs from an African country, where the lumpy skin disease is thought to have originated. According to Patole, the lumpy skin disease virus has been present in Nigeria for a long time, and Cheetahs have also arrived in India from there.

Maharashtra Congress President, Nana Patole, on Monday, said that the Centre 'deliberately' brought Cheetahs to India to ensure the spread of lumpy skin disease and harm farmers.

"This lumpy virus has been circulating for a long time in Nigeria, and the Cheetahs were also brought from there. The Central Government has done this to cause farmers' losses," Patole said while talking to the media. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released Cheetahs brought from Namibia into a special enclosure at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh on September 17. The Cheetahs were brought in as part of a plan to reintroduce the feline to India seven decades after it was declared extinct.

Patole's comments came just days after a suspected case of lumpy skin disease, which affects cattle such as cows and buffaloes, was discovered in an animal in the Mumbai suburb of Khar.

Mumbai has over 27,500 cattle, including 24,388 buffaloes, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). According to a BMC release, 2,203 of these cows have already received the vaccine against lumpy skin disease, and the remaining will be immunised by next week.

As a precautionary measure against the disease, the BMC has prohibited the slaughter of buffaloes in the city as of September 9.

Lumpy skin disease is a viral infection. It is transmitted by blood-feeding insects such as mosquitoes and flies and affects cattle, causing fever and nodules on the skin and death. Thousands of cattle have died due to LSD in eight states, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana.