Mysterious disease plagues livestock in Ghazi

Locals say cows die within few days of catching the affliction

HARIPUR:

A mysterious disease has spread in livestock especially cows in Ghazi's Union Council Kotira Pikiban and nearby villages.

Villagers said cows are dying due to the unidentified disease. They said that cows are the most affected and they die within a few days of catching the disease. People have lost several cattle since when the disease has spread in the area.

According to locals, blisters emerge on the animal's body and the animal dies instantly. They said that the infected animal’s meat was not fit for consumption either.

According to the residents, the disease is spreading fast and several animals have died in the past few days. The mysterious disease has caused serious concerns among the locals, who have demanded of the Livestock Department Ghazi and Veterinary Hospital Ghazi to intervene.

They also demanded that the authorities concerned carry out an emergency survey of the areas where the disease has spread. The locals said that they should be provided with vaccines and other medical assistance. They expressed the fear that the disease could spread to other areas if the livestock department did not intervene immediately.

Local veterinarian Ehteshamul Haq said that the disease may have spread in local cattle from animals brought from Sindh to Punjab for Eidul Azah. He said that a large number of animals were brought to local markets from other provinces for sale, causing the spread of diseases.

He said that this condition in animals is like the lumpy skin disease when the illness spreads from the animal’s skin to meat, eventually causing the death of animals.

He said that the disease can be handled at the early stage and the affected animals should be kept in isolation because the disease may be transmitted to other animals. “Eating the meat of such infected animals is also injurious to human health,” Dr Ehtesham said.

He said that the livestock markets in Hazro and Attock were the primary source of the outbreak of the disease in animals in the Ghazi district because animals from across the country were transported there ahead of Eidul Azha. “It is one of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab's major livestock markets. Cattle merchants come to this market from other areas and it is also very close to Ghazi," he said According to officials, no infected animal had been brought to the local veterinary hospital. The team will be dispatched to the location after verifying complaints or reports, they said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2022.