Ban on equine fair during Maghi Mela set to go

Chandigarh, January 4

With glanders disease seemingly under control, the government has decided to lift the ban on the equestrian fair to be held during the Maghi Mela.

Hoshiarpur breeders not allowed

However, horse breeders from Hoshiarpur district cannot participate in the fair. This is because the surveillance of horses for glanders disease in the district is not yet over. — Dr Ranjiv Gupta, Joint director, Northern regional disease diagnostic lab

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This is one of the biggest annual equestrian fairs held in Asia. However, horse breeders from Hoshiarpur district cannot participate in the fair. This is because the surveillance of horses for glanders disease in the district is not yet over, said Dr Ranjiv Gupta, Joint Director, Northern Regional Disease Diagnostic Lab, Jalandhar.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Animal Husbandry Department, chaired by Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian today. It has been decided to lift the ban in Amritsar, Ludhiana and Bathinda. The ban on holding horse fairs and horse mandis was taken last year after the deadly zoonotic disease – glanders – spread in the state, killing seven horses since May 2023.

It is only after a thorough surveillance of all horses in three of the four districts, where the disease was reported, that a decision to lift the ban has been taken, Khudian said.

It is learnt that horses and mules in the three districts were thoroughly scanned for the prevalence of this disease that can also spread to humans and tests were conducted. Sero surveillance of each animal, within 25 km radius of the farms where the disease was reported, has been done.

Only those horses, which have a negative test report for glanders will be allowed to participate in the fair. Since many breeders and stud farm owners from outside the state (Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana) get their horses in this fair, the government is also making it mandatory for them to get a negative report for glanders from recognised testing labs in their own state, before coming here. Teams of the Animal Husbandry Department will also be deputed at the fair to randomly check all animals.