MP Forests Face One Health Crisis as Cattle, Wildlife Meet

Madhya Pradesh’s forests, rich with wildlife and home to over 785 tigers, now face a growing health crisis. In the buffer zones of reserves like Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Pench and Satpura, close contact between people, livestock, and wild animals is raising fears of disease outbreaks—a One Health crisis. Thousands of  families live in 165 villages here. Each family has a set of livestock. Experts warn this mix could trigger new infections—or bring old ones back—threatening both human and animal lives.

The state has 11 national parks, 24 wildlife sanctuaries, and 7 tiger reserves. These protected forests (Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Pench and Satpura Tiger Reserves) are not only home to tigers and several types of wild animals but also have 18,626 human families living in 165 villages in their buffer zone. Each household in these villages has an estimated 10-15 cattle reared.

One Health is a way of looking at health that connects people, animals, and the environment. It understands that the health of humans, animals (both pets and wild animals), plants, and nature are all linked and affect each other. The goal is to keep all of them healthy in a balanced and sustainable way.

Threats to Livestocks and Livelihood

Ramkumar Bindiya of Sautia Vangram near Kanha Tiger Reserve still remembers the day his cows fell sick—saliva dripping from their mouths, blisters on their feet. In 2024, the local vet confirmed it was Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). He lost a calf that year. Sitting outside his mud house, Ramkumar recalls the loss he had to bear.   

That year, milk from his cows dropped from 12 litres a day to just 3. In his village in Bichhiya tehsil of Mandla district, nearly every family depends on cattle,10 to 20 per household—for their livelihood. But now, contagious diseases, likely spread through contact with wild animals, are threatening their only source of income.

Sautia isn’t alone. Nearby villages like Orai, Bargaon, and Khudrahi also reported widespread illness among cattle, leaving hundreds of tribal cattle rearers struggling.

In the forests of Madhya Pradesh, people, livestock, and wild animals live in close contact—and it’s becoming dangerous. Diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and brucellosis are reportedly spreading more easily, putting both rural families and wildlife at risk. For tribal cattle rearers, these diseases mean sick animals, lost income, and harder lives. For wildlife, it could mean falling numbers—and even extinction for some species.

The government is trying to fight the crisis through vaccination drives and disease monitoring under the One Health approach, which links human, animal, and environmental health. But in many remote villages, there are still big gaps. People don’t always get the help or information they need. As a result, the danger is growing quietly—at the edge of forests where survival and conservation meet.

In many tiger reserves like Kanha and Bandhavgarh, tribal families raise cows, buffaloes, and goats. Their animals drink from forest water sources and graze alongside wild animals like deer and wild pigs. This daily closeness helps diseases spread—both from cattle to wildlife and back.

According to the 2019 animal census, Madhya Pradesh has about 1.9 crore cattle and buffaloes. About 60% of them live in forest buffer zones. In Bandhavgarh alone, around 40,000 people and one lakh cattle share 1,600 square kilometres of forest land—depending on the same pastures and water as wild animals.

How Big is the Problem?

The spread of animal diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and brucellosis is serious in Madhya Pradesh—and it’s getting worse.

According to 2021 data from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), nearly one lakh cattle blood samples in the state showed signs of FMD. This means the disease is widespread. Between 2011 and 2020, central India saw over 2,200 FMD outbreaks—and Madhya Pradesh alone accounted for 15% of those. Areas like Jabalpur, Mandla, Mandsaur, and Damoh are at especially high risk, including in the summer of 2025.

FMD is not just a health concern—it’s an economic one. It can reduce milk production by up to 80%, hitting farmers hard.

Another concern is brucellosis, which can spread from animals to people, causing long-term fever, joint pain, and even miscarriage. A past survey found signs of the disease in 12% of milk samples from 10 districts in the state.

Wild animals like pigs, deer, chital, and sambar often come in contact with cattle while grazing or drinking water. This daily contact makes it easy for diseases to spread between domestic and wild animals—and even to humans. These diseases weaken wildlife, hurt farmers’ income, and pose risks to public health.

To track these threats, scientists use an AI-based early warning system called NADRES v2. It uses weather, animal movement, and past data to predict where outbreaks may happen. In 2025, it flagged Madhya Pradesh as at risk for both FMD and anthrax in the months of May and July.

In the 2012-2013 survey of ICAR-NIFMD, brucellosis has been found in 12 percent of milk samples in 10 districts of Madhya Pradesh.

Vaccination is the Solution

Experts say vaccination is the most effective way to stop the spread of deadly animal diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).

Dr. V. A. Srinivasan, an FMD vaccine specialist at ICAR-NIFMD who helped plan vaccination drives in Madhya Pradesh, says, “We can’t vaccinate wild animals—but we can protect cattle. That’s where we need to focus.”

He believes FMD can be wiped out through regular vaccination. But a big problem remains: misinformation. Many farmers wrongly believe that vaccination reduces milk production. “That’s simply not true,” says Dr. Srinivasan. “This myth is costing them their animals and income.”

Because of low awareness and lack of access in remote villages, many cattle go unvaccinated—leaving both livestock and wildlife at risk.

"FMD is the biggest threat to livestock," says Dr Joy Krishna Jena, deputy director-general of ICAR-NIFMD, who leads the investigation into the FMD virus at the BSL3-Ag laboratory in Bhubaneswar. Our laboratory tested 2000 samples from Madhya Pradesh in 2023, of which 20% were confirmed to have FMD."

Jena, describing mobile units as the most effective way to reach inaccessible villages, adds, "Vaccination is the weapon to combat infectious disease. That is why we need to increase the number of mobile units and focus on awareness."

Campaigns to Combat 

Efforts like the National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP) and the Infectious Disease Surveillance Programme are underway to tackle this crisis in the state. It is a joint effort of Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, ICAR-NIFMD, Nanaji Deshmukh University of Veterinary Sciences (NDVSU, Jabalpur) and Wildlife Conservation Trust India (WCT). This campaign is working on the principle of One Health, which connects the health of human, animal and environment together.

In the state, inactivated triple vaccine (O, A, Asia 1 serotype) is given to cows and buffaloes above four months of age every six months. It is necessary to keep it at a controlled temperature of 2-8 ° C.

The Central Government allocated a budget of Rs. 13.343 crore for National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP) in all the States. Under this programme, 100% vaccination against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) was targeted by 2019-2024. The Central Government has extended the program up to 2026 by making an amendment in March 2025.

Under this programme, about 44.57 crore FMD vaccines and 1.6 crore Brucellosis vaccines have been administered across the country during 2024. In the state, 20,191,669 cattle of 52,97,789 cattle rearers have been vaccinated with FMD vaccine and 1,67,808 with Brucella vaccine. While 99 percent coverage of vaccination has been achieved in several districts of the state, the figure is still 75-85 per cent in Kanha and Bandhavgarh, respectively.

The Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has been working to spread awareness about these infectious diseases in the villages settled in the protected forests of the state since 2020-21. The help of Wildlife Conservation Trust India (WCT) is being taken in these camps. Together, they have so far vaccinated 2,41,000 cattle from more than 220 villages in seven Tiger Reserves of the state and more than 16,000 cattle are being tested and continuously monitored.

There was no vaccination in Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve in 2020-21. But after the awareness camps here, FMD vaccine was administered to 20000 cattle in 2021-22, 25000 in 2022-23, 20000 in 2023-24 and 15000 in 2024-25.

Similarly, after awareness camps in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, FMD vaccine has been administered to 35000 cattle in 2021-22, 45000 in 2022-23, 46000 in 2023-24 and 25000 in 2024-25 so far.

The conservation team of WCT is also taking the help of the Dogs Unit. This unit also helps in locating dead or sick animals in the wild. It was with the help of this unit that FMD was confirmed in a dead deer in Kanha in 2023, after which more than 10 thousand cattle in the surrounding villages were vaccinated.

Use of Technology and Data

NADRES v2 in 2024 reported high risk for FMD in 15 districts of the state. On the basis of this, the Animal Husbandry Department intensified the vaccination campaign. Till January 2025, 18,08,739 SMS alerts were sent to farmers. This included districts like Mandla, Seoni and Jabalpur in the state.

On the other hand, the state government has started 406 mobile veterinary units in 2023 to reach out to remote villages for vaccination and testing.

The same units screened 200 cattle at Khamaria village near Pench Tiger Reserve (Seoni district) in 2023, in which 10 per cent were found to have symptoms of FMD and were immediately vaccinated.

Left Out of the System

Ramkumar Baiga, a cattle rearer from Sautia village near Kanha Tiger Reserve, says he never got any message or visit from the government’s mobile veterinary units.

“We got our cattle vaccinated in March—but we had to do it on our own and pay for it,” he told Ground Report.

For Ramkumar, the trip to the nearest veterinary hospital in Mawai block—about 23 km away—is long and costly. Each vaccination costs Rs. 300. For families who depend on cattle for their livelihood, this is a big burden.

His story raises a bigger question: Is the vaccination campaign really reaching remote villages like Sautia? And are there enough mobile units to cover all forest-edge communities?

This challenge is not just Ramkumar’s. Across Madhya Pradesh, many forest villages are caught in the same struggle—where diseases are quietly eating away at biodiversity, public health, and fragile rural incomes.

The state’s wildlife conservation efforts are built on a “forest health” model that includes vaccination, disease monitoring, and community involvement. These strategies aim to protect wildlife and also support the farmers who live alongside them.

But without better access, awareness, and support in far-flung areas, these efforts can fall short. To truly protect people like Ramkumar—and the forests and wildlife they live among—these solutions need to reach the last village, not just the nearest town.

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