COVID-19: Horse which ferries its owner from Kashmir to Rajouri placed under 'home quarantine'

Jammu: A horse which ferried its owner from Kashmir to Rajouri district of the Jammu region was placed under “home quarantine” by isolating him from the rest of animals amid the coronavirus scare.

A family in Rajouri has been directed to isolate a horse from other animals as a precautionary measure after one of its members used the mammal to return from the Valley via the Mughal Road, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The horse rider was intercepted by police while he was entering his home district Rajouri from Shopian in south Kashmir, Thanamandi Tehsildar Anjum Bashir Khan told PTI.

The man was sent to administrative quarantine and his sample taken for COVID-19 testing, Khan said.

Rajouri was among the four districts of the Jammu region declared as ”green zone” last week, while Shopian district was categorized as ”red zone” along with 10 other districts spread over the valley and parts of the Jammu region.

Permission is needed for any type of movement from red to green or orange zones.

Khan said the man was intercepted by police while he was coming on horse-back from Shopianto Thanamandi (Rajouri) on Monday night via the Mughal road – an alternate road connecting the valley with the rest of the country. The road is presently closed due to heavy snowfall during the winter.

The man was subsequently taken to a medical screening centre while veterinary experts were roped in to get their views on the horse, Khan said.

He said though there was no report of transmission of coronavirus from human to domestic animals or vice versa, the horse was kept under observation for the night and was medically screened for body temperature before being handed over to the family on Tuesday.

However, the family was instructed to isolate the horse from other animals and not to come closer to it till the test report of its rider comes negative, Khan said.

“The step was taken as a precautionary measure,” the officer said, adding the release of the rider from the quarantine facility depends on the outcome of his report.

Rajouri had recorded a total of 13 coronavirus cases till Tuesday evening. While four of the patients have been cured, the rest are undergoing treatment.