Uttarakhand imposes 24-hour ban on horses on Kedarnath route after 14 die of mystery illness

Dehradun: The Uttarakhand government has imposed a 24-hour ban on the use of horses and mules on the Kedarnath pilgrimage route after 14 animals died of a mystery illness in two days.

Eight horses and mules died on the route on May 4 and six the day after, BVRC Purushottam, the animal husbandry department secretary, said on Tuesday.

A team of experts from the Centre will arrive to examine the animals to ascertain the reason behind such a large number of deaths, he said.

Some bacterial infection is suspected, the officer added. Horses and mules are used to ferry pilgrims to the Himalayan shrine.

Purushottam said though he did not think equine influenza was the cause of death, the possibility could not be entirely ruled out.

"The exact cause of death will be known only after a team of experts from the Centre examines them. For the time being, a 24-hour ban has been imposed on the use of horses and mules on the Kedarnath route he said.

An equine influenza case was reported first on April 4 and, by April 30, samples from 16,000 horses were screened. Of these, 152 horses had tested positive, he said.

But even their samples returned a negative result in the RTPCR test.

When the 24-hour ban is lifted, only horses and mules that test negative will be allowed to be used on the pilgrimage route.

Those who have recovered from the bacterial infection 15-16 days after contracting it will also be allowed, the officer said.