``We are still identifying other diseases in animals here and hope to eradicate them in two years,'' says Dr V J Thomas, director, animal husbandry and health services.

With Western importers insisting on stringent quality control measures following the outbreak of the mad cow disease two years ago, hygiene has become even more crucial to meat exports. The World Trade Organisation, of which India is a signatory, has called for the creation of disease-free zones by installing immune belts, mass vaccination, disease surveillance and forecasting systems.

In a representation made to the Central Government on the subject, the Goa administration has drawn attention to thenatural boundaries which favour the setting up of such zones in the state. ``The Arabian Sea and the river Tiracol are natural barriers on two sides while the Western Ghats block the state from the eastern and southern borders,'' says Thomas. Contamination by animals from outside the region can thus be effectively controlled, he said.

The state government is now in the process of identifying appropriate areas for quarantining animals before they can be allowed into the state. Once the state is declared a livestock disease-free zone, the animal products industry in Goa is bound to receive a major boost, Thomas said. The industry at present is confined to a handful of small plants and a daily milk production capacity of about five thousand litres.

Apart from dairy animals, the programme will also cover domestic animals and even stray dogs and cats. However, it is not known how the state government proposes to control diseases in stray animals with programmes for elimination of stray dogs undertaken by localself-governments said to be mired in corruption.