More than 1100 dogs across 36 villages in the buffer area of Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh are being vaccinated against canine distemper virus (CDV) as a precautionary measure, a senior official said on Saturday.

CDV is a highly contagious and potentially fatal disease that affects a dog's respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous systems.

"We are covering about 1150 across 36 villages in the buffer area of the reserve. This was started in November and will continue till February. Vaccination is being done as a preventive measure," PTR field director Anjana Suchita Tirkey told PTI.

"Earlier, the blood samples of the dogs revealed that rabies and CDV were prevalent among them. The virus of these diseases was present. These dogs may come in contact with wild animals. There can be incidents of dog bites, which can cause rabies or CDV. There were dog bite incidents earlier too. Tiger P-212, who was later sent to Sanjay Tiger Reserve, was found infected with rabies," Tirkey said.

CDV was detected in a leopard as well as a tiger in Chhatarpur, she said.

Seven tigers were brought from Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Pench tiger reserves besides Van Vihar National Park to Panna in 2009, she said.

The number of adult tigers in Panna Reserve has reached 62, she added.

As per the 'Status of Tigers: Co-predators & Prey in India-2022' report released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Institute of India, Madhya Pradesh leads with 785 tigers, followed by Karnataka (563) and Uttarakhand (560).

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