KARACHI: Only five districts out of 29 in Sindh have not yet reported a single case of lumpy skin disease (LSD) that has so far killed 250 cows. Its outbreak in Karachi got aggravated due to misuse of live virus vaccines.

This was stated by provincial livestock director general during a question-answer session at a seminar organised by the Association of Molecular and Microbial Sciences at Dow International Medical College, Ojha campus, on Thursday.

Explaining how LSD spread in cattle in the city, livestock DG Dr Nazeer Kalhoro said dairy farmers, out of despair, made an indiscriminate use of live virus vaccines apparently without consulting a qualified veterinarian. These LSD vaccines were reportedly smuggled in from South Africa.

Live virus vaccines carry risks and should be used with caution. “Most dairy farmers in Karachi had a few infected animals with signs of the disease which led them to believe that the rest of their herd was safe and could be vaccinated. However, this was not the case,” he noted.

Their other animals, Dr Kalhoro pointed out, were also infected but were not showing signs either due to their good immune system or because the virus was yet to complete its incubation period. These animals also developed full-blown disease when the live virus in the vaccine got combined with the pathogen already present in their bodies.

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He claimed that the disease outbreak situation improved particularly in Cattle Colony when farmers heeded to government’s advice and stopped using live virus vaccines.

Currently, the livestock staff was administering goat pox vaccine (to affected animals), which provided 40 to 50 per cent protection against LSD.

Vaccine import

Asked about the LSD vaccine the government has planned to import, he said a total of four million vaccine doses would be imported from Turkey and would be administered free of cost to only healthy animals in Sindh.

“We have made plans to vaccinate two million animals in the first phase and start production of local LSD vaccine within eight to nine months. So far, 28,857 cows have been infected in Sindh whereas 13,000 animals have recovered,” he said, adding that the cured animals had developed life-long immunity against the disease.

Dr Kalhoro regretted the propaganda on LSD in the social media, clarifying that the disease had been there for a century but no case of LSD transmission from animal to human in science literature had been reported.

“This disease only affects cows and the infected animals experience a sudden and significant drop in milk production. Hence, there is no question of milk getting contaminated while there is no evidence that the disease affects [quality of] milk or meat.”

Earlier, Dow University of Health Sciences pro vice chancellor Prof Nusrat Shah told the audience that the university and the provincial livestock department would jointly develop an LSD vaccine very soon.

She also urged the youth to join veterinary sciences as the country was faced with a shortage of vets.

Prof Mushtaq Hussain also spoke at the seminar.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2022