Livestock health
Livestock diseases
A plain-language guide to the diseases costing Indian dairy, goat, sheep, poultry, pig and fish farmers the most — signs, spread, vaccination and treatment for each.
Type of disease
Animal
Showing 15 of 15
- ViralNotifiable
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)
A fast-spreading viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals — fever, blisters in the mouth and between the hooves, heavy drooling and sudden lameness. Few adult animals die, but milk yield crashes and often never fully returns.
CattleBuffaloGoatSheepPigRead guide - BacterialNotifiable
Haemorrhagic septicaemia (gal ghotu)
A sudden, fast-killing bacterial disease of cattle and especially buffalo in the monsoon — high fever, a hot painful swelling under the jaw and throat, hard breathing, and death within a day or two.
CattleBuffaloRead guide - BacterialNotifiable
Black quarter (langri / BQ)
A sudden, usually fatal bacterial disease of well-fed young cattle — a hot painful swelling in a hind or fore quarter that crackles under the skin, severe lameness, high fever and death within a day.
CattleBuffaloSheepRead guide - Bacterial
Mastitis (thanaila)
Inflammation of the udder from bacteria entering the teat — the single biggest cause of lost milk income. It ranges from clots and flakes in otherwise normal milk to a hot, hard, swollen quarter and a very sick animal.
CattleBuffaloGoatRead guide - ViralNotifiable
Lumpy skin disease (LSD)
A viral disease of cattle spread mainly by biting flies, ticks and mosquitoes — fever, watery eyes and then firm, round skin nodules all over the body. Most animals recover but milk drops sharply and weak animals can die.
CattleBuffaloRead guide - ViralNotifiable
PPR (peste des petits ruminants / bakri plague)
A highly fatal viral disease of goats and sheep — sudden high fever, sore crusty mouth, foul-smelling diarrhoea, pneumonia and heavy death losses that can sweep a whole flock in a week.
GoatSheepRead guide - ViralNotifiable
Newcastle disease (Ranikhet)
The most devastating viral disease of village and commercial poultry — sudden heavy death, greenish diarrhoea, gasping, and birds twisting the neck or paralysed. An unvaccinated flock can be lost almost completely.
PoultryRead guide - BacterialNotifiable
Brucellosis
A bacterial disease that causes abortion in the last third of pregnancy, retained placenta and infertility in cattle, buffalo, goats and sheep — and passes to people as a long, debilitating fever.
CattleBuffaloGoatSheepPigRead guide - ViralNotifiable
Avian influenza (bird flu)
A viral disease of poultry that can kill a flock within days and also infects people who handle sick or dead birds — sudden mass death, facial swelling, a blue comb and a sharp fall in eggs are the warning signs.
PoultryRead guide - Parasitic
Coccidiosis
A gut parasite disease of young birds on damp litter — bloody or watery droppings, ruffled feathers and poor weight gain. It is the most common cause of lost growth in a broiler or backyard flock and is entirely preventable with dry litter and, where needed, in-feed medication.
PoultryRead guide - Viral
Infectious bursal disease (Gumboro / IBD)
A viral disease of young chicks that attacks the bursa, the organ that builds their immune system — sudden diarrhoea and huddling in a 3–6 week old flock, and a lasting weakness to every other disease and vaccine that follows.
PoultryRead guide - Viral
Fowl pox
A slow-spreading viral disease with two faces — wart-like scabs on the comb and wattles that mostly just look bad, or a more serious form with cheesy plaques in the mouth and throat that stops birds eating and can suffocate them.
PoultryRead guide - Parasitic
Varroa mite
An external parasitic mite that feeds on honeybee brood and adults and spreads bee viruses at the same time — deformed wings on newly emerged bees and a gradually weakening, dwindling colony are the giveaway.
BeesRead guide - Bacterial
American foulbrood (AFB)
A severe, spore-forming bacterial disease of honeybee brood — sunken, perforated cell cappings and a foul smell from a patchy brood pattern. There is no cure, and burning the infected hive and equipment is the standard, regulation-backed response.
BeesRead guide - Parasitic
Wax moth
A moth whose larvae tunnel through and web over beeswax comb — webbing, tunnels and a weakened or abandoned hive. It is a scavenger of weak colonies and unguarded stored comb, not an infection of the bees themselves, and a strong colony defends its own comb without help.
BeesRead guide
Managing a specific enterprise? Each enterprise page lists its own feeding plan, vaccination calendar and disease cards in the order you meet them.
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