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In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, inundating a large region of the country with heavy rain, high winds and flood water. Thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed in Yangon and the Ayeyarwady delta region. Animals were hit even harder, with countless numbers affected.
Equally devastating was the government's decision to delay foreign aid to the thousands of people and animals in need in Myanmar. When a team of Humane Society International (HSI)
and Animal Help Foundation relief workers were permitted to enter the country in June, seven weeks after the cyclone struck, they worked tirelessly to bring veterinary treatment to the animals that they encountered, returning again in July to provide additional assistance.
July 1, 2008
Mud-Covered in Myanmar
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| © HSI |
| Checking animals for symptoms of illness. |
On June 22, seven weeks after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, HSI was finally permitted to enter the country and provide assistance to the people and their animals. Rahul Sehgal, manager, HSI-India, and three veterinarians from
Animal Help Foundation traveled first to Yangon and then on to Ayeyarwady Delta to reach out to animals in need and provide treatment, medication and health supplements. In responding to this disaster, HSI has been working closely with the World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA), who assisted in obtaining entry visas for our responders and who provided logistical support from Yangon for the HSI team.
Difficult Conditions
Rahul describes the situation they found: “The working conditions were difficult. It was raining constantly and there was a lot of water everywhere. The animals were in the fields and, to get to them, it was necessary to wade through a knee-deep cocktail of mud, dung and other unknown substances."
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| © HSI |
| Delivering supplies by boat. |
By Land and By Water
Each day, the HSI staff split into two teams and each took along a local vet/translator from Myanmar’s Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD). One team traveled by road (by motorbike, tuk tuk, and even rickshaw) and the other by water to whatever area was targeted. The team traveling by water carried cattle feed to far-flung areas and distributed it as instructed by the LBVD.
At each location, the team would split further: one group would distribute parasite treatments and health supplies while the other went with any farmer who reported sickness or symptoms in his animals.
The team most commonly encountered diarrhea, transportation stress and, more seriously, Foot and Mouth Disease and Hemorrhagic Septicemia.
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| © HSI |
| Farmers brought their animals for assessment. |
Foot and Mouth Disease
When this disease sets in, the affected animal cannot walk due to lesions around the hoof which then spread to the mouth, making it painful to chew and eat. This disease is usually fatal in young animals and can cause mortality in adults if left untreated. The most dreaded aspect of this illness is that it is highly communicable and is spread through the air.
However, the HSI team found this disease to be mysteriously self-curing in Myanmar, with or without medication. The main problem is that it is so common, and the farmers are unable to use their animals if they are infected, thus losing precious days for rice paddy nursery preparation.
“Whenever we came across an animal displaying FMD symptoms, we treated her symptomatically with antibiotics and disinfected ourselves properly before proceeding so as not to be carrying the infection to other parts of the delta. We also educated the farmers about the need to keep the ill animal rested and separate from the others,” Rahul relates.
Hemorrhagic Septicemia
The strain of this infection in Myanmar was severe and fatal. In some cases, it took only 24 hours after the symptoms appeared for the animal to die. Several villages were found to have livestock suffering from this infection and the HSI team tried their best to treat the animals and educate the owners about prevention and containment methods.
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| © HSI |
| A pig waits for help. |
Pets and Piglets
The team did encounter a few smaller animals in need. They gave worming pills to a kitten brought in by a villager. They treated a puppy suffering from a high temperature. After seeing a piglet being castrated in the middle of the street without anesthesia or any basic asepsis, HSI treated the animal with antibiotics and painkillers.
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| © HSI |
| A typical roadside scene. |
The Good News
Rahul did have some positive news to share:
“There is plenty of green grass for livestock to eat. Every single house has a cat who lives inside and a dog who is well cared for, with no overpopulation or disease. The health condition of the surviving animals overall can be classified as very good to excellent. The owners seemed to be very caring, as most of the animals which we diagnosed were then adequately rested and cared for by the people.
“Regarding livestock, it seemed that the average ownership was 2-4 animals per farmer, grazing over a large area of grassland. This could be why diseases were not spreading as rapidly as might have been expected.
“Finally, the local LBVD personnel were very helpful and willing during our stint at the delta and were open to learning and passing on veterinary skills. The daily data collation was well organized and backup support from the WSPA office in Yangon was excellent. Medical supply replenishment and trip schedules were very professionally managed.”
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| © HSI |
| Paddling past a village. |
Future Issues and Concerns
Rahul worries that vaccinations will not be carried out regularly enough and as instructed. The area which needs to be supplied and supported is gigantic. Rahul believes that a large number of veterinarians would be needed to have any significant impact. Animals being transported out to farmers for restocking need to be better cared for during the journey to prevent additional illness or injury.
The team suggested that instead of covering the entire delta sporadically, they should choose a cluster of villages to use as a model for LBVD staff and work out a practical schedule for doing vaccinations and follow-up treatments more systematically. Local veterinarians could then learn from the example and additional teams of these people could travel farther afield, as in Banda Aceh after the 2005 tsunami.
The three HSI/Animal Help Foundation veterinarians will return to the delta July 6 and stay until mid-month.
Updated November 21, 2008.
