Cattle epidemic creates panic
PHOTO: REUTERS
The emergence of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) caused by a vector borne virus has send panic waves among people of the city consuming beef and milk.
The Sindh government livestock and animal husbandry department was vaccinating animals in the Cattle Colony and has allayed fears that consuming meat and milk of infected animals is harmful to human consumption. Videos doing rounds on social media, showing infected animals with lumps filled with pus on skin, have created panic among consumers.
The livestock department has advised cattle owners to separate their sick animals from healthy ones and frequently use anti-mosquito spray to prevent animals from LSD.
Besides Karachi, the disease was being reported from Thatta, Jamshoro, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Sanghar, Sukkur, and Nawabshah, a press release said.
Meanwhile, the Dairy and Cattle Farmers Association has sought help from the federal government to control the epidemic that has infected over a million animals in the Cattle Colony.
Responding to the situation, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah tasked the livestock and animal husbandry department to take emergency measures for controlling the disease, an official statement said.
CM Murad directed Livestock DG Dr Nazeer Kalhoro to send special teams to the dairy farms for vaccinating the cattle against the viral disease.
The DG Livestock, on the directives of the CM, constituted teams to control and contain the lumpy skin disease infections in Karachi, the statement said.
The committee includes Additional Director Livestock Dr Rafique Memon, Dr Habibullah Jamali, Dr Javed Memon, Dr Rashid Pirzada, Dr Amjad Shah, Dr Khalid Jalbani.
The task force would collect and submit the samples from the infected animals to Central Veterinary Diagnosis Tandojam and to the Sindh Institute of Animal Health Karachi.
The committee would also develop coordination with the concerned municipal authorities to launch anti-mosquito spray of the cattle pens.
The task force would also submit daily progress reports to the DG Livestock and to the CM secretariat.
The Ministry of National Food Security and Research Livestock Wing of the federal government through a letter has confirmed that Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) has been confirmed in selected areas of Sindh and South Punjab and issued certain guidelines to control it.
The field team of the livestock department has started visiting Cattle Colony, Karachi to vaccinate the cattle. They also started collecting samples for lab tests.
The chief minister has assured the dairy farmers that their farms would be given proper attention for producing healthy milk and beef.
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Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2022.