Dhulikhel, October 14:

An outbreak of diphtheria for the past few days has killed 24 domestic cattle at Milche, a remote VDC in Kavrepalanchowk district.

So far now 17 buffaloes, a cow and six she-goats have died in Ward No 2 and 4 of the VDC.

The district veterinary office, Kavre, had sent a team led by Shyam Sundar Sapkota to the affected area soon after the disease broke out. Though the team managed to vaccinate 350 cattle against the disease, around 400 other cattle could not be vaccinated due to the lack of vaccines in the market. Locals said the vaccines were unavailable in the entire Banepa area.

Locals have demanded the government compensate for the death of cattle. “The government should not only provide compensation to the victims of natural calamity and accidents, it should also compensate the peasants for this kind of heavy losses”, said victims Sun Bahadur Ghising and Bir Bahadur Gole.

Veterinary doctor Dilip Deuja said the disease spread as the villagers ignored the vaccination schedule for their animals.