THE outbreak of lumpy skin disease in cows and buffaloes in a number of areas of Sindh and Punjab is causing much trepidation among dairy and small cattle farmers. As the federal authorities await the completion of formalities for the import of 50,000 vaccines, farmers with sick animals have so far largely been left in the lurch without any government assistance. So far, around 67 cattle heads have died while between 18,000 and 20,000 are said to be affected by LSD in Sindh, with more than 15,000 cases in Karachi alone. A substantial number of cases have also been reported from almost all other districts of Sindh and from Bahawalpur in Punjab. Meanwhile, as the demand for chicken meat grows in Karachi, retailers have had an excuse to jack up the prices to as much as Rs570 per kilo, according to a report in this paper.

Though news reports published earlier in the week quoted cattle farmers in Hyderabad as saying that they had not received any guidance from the local veterinary centres run by the livestock department, the matter was taken up by the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research on Wednesday. The meeting decided to set up response centres in the affected areas and launch a robust awareness campaign for farmers and the general public. It was also decided that till such time the import of the LSD vaccine is approved and it becomes available, the goat pox vaccine will be used to vaccinate cattle to protect against LSD. The use of the goat pox vaccine has been approved by the animal husbandry commissioner as it is also said to be effective against LSD. However, detailed guidelines for the treatment and management of sick animals have yet to be issued by the federal task force constituted to control the situation. It would be better if the authorities took stock of the situation without delay so that the disease can be controlled before it spreads to the other provinces.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2022