Kendrapara: Thousands of rodents were found dead at Balirajpur and Khamarpada villages under Bagada GP under Kendrapara block, informed Chaityana Charan Sethy, CDVO of Kendrapara.
According to people in Balirajpur, villagers of the two villages Saturday morning discovered thousands of dead mice lying on road outside their houses.
A crow was seen dying on the spot when it feasted on a dead mouse. Cats were seen getting sick after they partook of dead mice.Locals suspected the rodents might have died due to outbreak of a disease or they might have consumed some poison.Panic struck the villagers who later informed the matter to the district collector and CDVO.
Acting on a tip-off, a veterinary team led by CDVO Chaityana Charan Sethy rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. The officials later conducted an inquiry and collected 15 samples and one live mouse for a test.
Samples were sent to Animal Disease Research Institute at Phulnakhara and Orissa college of veterinary science and animal husbandry at Bhubaneswar to ascertain the exact reason for deaths, said Sethy.
The CDVO said as rain lashed the district heavily under the influence of Roanu Friday, mouse holes in agriculture fields were submerged. Farmers might have used fertilizer. It was suspected that remaining fertilizer or poison might have been mixed with rain water and got carried to agriculture fields. The mice might have consumed the fertiliser-laced rain water leading to their deaths.
The exact reason for the deaths will be ascertained after the lab reports are received. Meanwhile, veterinary personnel created awareness among locals to bury the dead mice. They were also asked to not use well water that was contaminated by dead mice. The animal husbandry unit has also asked locals to use well water only after disinfecting it, said Sethy.
PNN
