LSD outbreaks reported in several K-P districts

Confirmed cases surface in Peshawar, Charsadda, DI Khan

PESHAWAR:

Cases of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) have been reported from several districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) including Peshawar, Charsadda and DI Khan.

LSD in livestock was initially reported in Sindh this year in March and then in Punjab but now confirmed cases have been reported from K-P.

According to a press statement issued here on Sunday by Livestock Farmers Welfare Association (LFWA), Director General Livestock K-P, Dr Alamzeb has confirmed cases in K-P which is highly alarming because there is no cure and only prior vaccination can arrest the spread.

President LFWA, Muhammad Asif Awan said that he has received reports of infection in cattle and also confirmed it from DG Livestock.

Asif stressed upon chief secretary and secretary livestock to release funds so that the department could take preventive measures against the disease.

He urged effective vaccination drive to prevent healthy animals. He said LSD has already infected a large number of animals in Sindh and Punjab provinces and will also hit the dairy farms in K-P if not checked.

If preventive measures are not taken, the impact of the disease will be very harmful on dairy farming community of the province, he warned.

He also urged the provincial government to carry out a comprehensive awareness campaign among dairy framers and cattle owners so that they could protect their animals.

President LFWA also demanded declaration of an emergency by livestock department by closing all entry points of the province and establishing veterinary control rooms. “Strict checking should be ensured at all the entry points of the province to stop spread of the disease, he added.

Awan said he is also writing a letter to chief secretary K-P to draw his attention towards this serious issue and for taking strict preventive measures to curb its further spread.

It is worth mentioning here that K-P is 100 per cent dependent for supply of cattle heads on Punjab and Sindh.

“Almost 100 per cent animals to our local slaughterhouses are coming from Punjab and cattle dealers have already started purchasing animals for the Eid from different parts of Punjab and Sindh. So it is almost impossible to check the spread of disease you cannot check every animal entering K-P as thousands are brought on a daily basis,” said an official, adding that there is no local breeding of buffaloes in the province.

“We suspect that infected animals are already sold to traders in Punjab by farmers who want to get rid of them and they transport them to K-P slaughter houses in large number and this is not a good trend for consumers either,” he said.

In March in a span of a few weeks, the LSD spread across Sindh with over 20,000 animals affected — 15,100 in Karachi alone — and as many as 54 dead.

Officials then claimed that it also started spreading to Punjab.

Officials in Sindh identified this to be a real threat and have held an important meeting along with setting up a task force to curb the spread of the disease.

Some options that have been discussed are to develop a strategic and operational plan on an emergency basis to limit economic cost to farmers; to procure around 500,000 vaccines for proper immunisation of cattle since there is no cure for it; and to use insect/mosquito repellants in cattle farms. (With input from APP)

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2022.