Peshawar admin to spray sacrificial animals

Helpline set up for people to lodge complaints, request disinfection of animals

Workers unloading a sacrificial cow from a truck for delivery at Ring Road Mandi in Peshawar. PHOTO: APP

PESHAWAR:
As the provincial health department issued a health advisory recommending precautionary measures against the spread of Congo virus, the district administration of Peshawar has decided to set up a hotline for the public.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Health Department has warned the public that the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), commonly called Congo fever,  can be transmitted via ticks, responsible for severe outbreaks in humans but never affect cattle, sheep and goats.

With a significant number of cases reported across K-P every year, the alert stated that the affected districts over the past two years include Peshawar, Karak, Lakki Marwat, and Bannu though cases have been reported from Mansehra and Abbottabad districts as well.

As cows return to cities, Congo fears rise

Keeping in view sensitivity of the issue, Peshawar’s Deputy Commissioner Dr Imran Shaikh held a meeting with officials from the livestock department and asked them to ensure that all the sacrificial animals being brought to markets in the provincial capital are sprayed and disinfected.


“Shaikh met livestock department officials and informed them to spray all the sacrificial animals at all the entry routes into the provincial capital,” read a statement issued by the DC office, adding, “People should call on 1052 so that the animals are sprayed.”

Ready for Eid: The cows are back in town

According to the statement, Shaikh also visited different slaughterhouses and checked the condition of the animals being slaughtered.

He warned against illegal slaughtering houses and directed the concerned officials to arrest all those found guilty for violating the orders.

Veterinary officer Dr Abbas told Shaikh that all the animals were stamped by doctors before being slaughtered, adding the public was being sensitised against the virus and at the same time for taking precautionary measures against Congo virus. 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2018.

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