Jorhat, Aug. 6: The Majuli subdivisional administration has launched a campaign to make farmers aware of the poisonous lantana camara shrub, which has killed hundreds of cows on the island.

Lantana camara is a flowering plant known to be toxic for livestock. After the floods, veterinarians pinpointed this shrub as the cause of the largescale death of cattle on the river island.

Majuli subdivisional officer Narsing Pawar said the people were now being made aware of where the plant was proliferating.

The veterinary department is providing supportive medicine to cattle which consumed the leaves of the shrub which acted as slow poison for the cows, he said.

Pawar said it was not possible to eradicate the shrub from the island as it was very prolific. Even if uprooted it would begin growing where its seeds fell.

He said the team of doctors from Majuli and from mainland Jorhat were busy distributing cattle feed in places where grass had become scarce so that the cows do not feed on the poisonous plant.

"The crisis has passed and now we can take preventive measures so that more such cases do not come up. We are doing this through awareness campiagns," he said.

Rupam Borgohain, scientist, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jorhat, under Assam Agricultural University, who had accompanied a team of veterinarians from College of Veterinary Science, Khanapara, said the only remedy for the cows who were still alive and in various stages of poisoning was giving them saline.

"But this is not possible because of extreme shortage of manpower. Giving saline to hundreds of cows who had consumed the plant and were weak and ailing would mean a doctor being engaged for one hour per bottle. The veterinary department does not have that kind of manpower," he said.

Pawar said the total number of staff on the island was just six.

Borgohain said the weak cows and calves were sure to die in the next few days but the stronger ones could be revived with medicines. There is no antidote to the poison, he added.

Borgohain said farmers had told him that a few cows had died of similar symptoms during the floods in 2012 but at that time it had not been highlighted and they had not been told about lantana camara and its fatal effect on cattle.

Borgohain said cows usually ignore this plant but because of scarcity of fodder and grass they nibbled on the leaves of this shrub.

"The cows start haemorrhaging and their skin breaks open. This acts as a slow poison and the cow feels weak. It also becomes extremely photosensitive and seeks the shade of trees. After about a week of not being able to eat or digest food, the weak cows and calves usually die," he said.

"The plant is not indigenous to our country and like parthenium and mimosa weed in Kaziranga and some other plants they have been brought from Latin American countries," he said.

Borgohain said in Majuli the plant was sparse but could soon overrun the island as it is very prolific, generating through seeds, branches and roots.