Lean Environmental Solutions

Guide · Kyrgyzstan

Animal disease

One sick animal can infect a whole herd and close the market, and some diseases, like brucellosis and anthrax, also make people ill.

Who and when

All livestock keepers. Riskiest in spring (lambing, calving, moving to pasture) and at autumn slaughter. Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) cases in 2025–2026; the SAT1 type is new to the region. Brucellosis is rising (human cases 578 in 2020, 1,203 in 2025) and reaches families through raw milk, birthing and home slaughter. Anthrax is in the soil at over 500 sites, mainly in the south.

Getting worse or not: yes. Brucellosis is rising and FMD SAT1 is new; the main driver is animal movement and weak vet control.

Right now

Right now (autumn 2026)

  • The autumn vaccination round is running. The state gives free vaccines for nine diseases (including FMD, brucellosis, rabies, anthrax, sheep pox) twice a year. For FMD, owners pay the vet's fee.
  • The usual FMD vaccines (O, A, Asia-1) do not protect against SAT1. No SAT1 vaccination programme was found. Ask your district vet.
Before

Before: get ready

Animals

  1. Get every animal into the free vaccination rounds, in spring and autumn. When: now, and again in March–April.
  2. Ear-tag and register every animal. When: at vaccination.
  3. Keep a simple record: tag, vaccinations, births, where each animal came from.
  4. Don't buy animals of unknown origin. Keep new animals apart before they join the herd (general practice, check locally).
  5. Never slaughter a sick animal at home. Never sell or eat meat from an animal that died of an unknown cause.
  6. Never graze or dig on livestock burial grounds or anthrax sites. This is fined.
  7. Save the number of your district vet office (no hotline found).

Money: free vaccines; no livestock insurance and no compensation for forced slaughter.

During

During: when it hits

  1. Protect people. If an animal dies suddenly, or bleeds from the nose, mouth or other openings, do not open or butcher it: it may be anthrax.
  2. Report at once to the district vet office.
  3. Do not move, sell or slaughter sick animals.
  4. Do not treat the disease yourself. Do what the vet service says. Expect quarantine: movement control, disinfection, official disposal of carcasses, sometimes culling.
  5. Never hide animals from the vet. This is fined.
  6. Carcasses: ask the district vet. Never bury them where floods reach.
After

After: recover

First days

  • Follow the quarantine rules until the vet lifts them.
  • Take photos with date and time of dead animals and their ear tags. Keep the vet's papers and the lab result.
  • Clean and disinfect pens as the vet directs.

First weeks

  • Catch up any missed vaccinations.
  • Restock only from tested, vaccinated animals, and keep them apart first (general practice, check locally).

Money and help

  • No compensation for dead or culled animals was found.
Build back better

Build back better

  1. Tag, register and vaccinate every animal, every round.
  2. Keep a pen for new animals, apart from the herd.
  3. Buy only from known, vaccinated sources.
  4. Keep the herd record up to date.

What the farm check looks for

Animals not tagged or registered, missed vaccination rounds, animals bought without knowing their origin, home slaughter, and grazing near burial or anthrax sites.

Get a free farm check

Sources