MUZAFFARGARH: More than 1,100 animals in Muzaffargarh and over 800 in Layyah districts had died of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) and thousands contracted the virus after Eidul Azha, claimed district livestock officials on Thursday.

District livestock officer Dr Mohammed Tariq said the virus basically came from South Africa to Karachi around six months back. He said his teams were busy treating the animals through ‘herbal method’ as no medicines were available.

“Farmers just know about fever and flu to animals and now cattle farm owners are worried about the situation,” he said.

Cattle farm owners -- Umer and Shahnawaz -- said last year they earned profit worth millions of rupees from sale of animals and now finding a buyer has become a difficult task.

Umer claimed that the Eidul Azha [season] was a great loss for him as he had to sell four-maund (160 kg) cow at only Rs60,000 while its actual rate was Rs120,000.

He said he off and on complained to livestock department office but the officials said they had no medicines or vaccine and gave ‘herbal medicines tips’.

The symptoms of the disease are: fever, watery eyes, runny nose, inflammation of the lymph nodes, loss of appetite and decrease in milk production. According to a vet, animals suffer from stress, rashes appear on the skin and spread throughout the body. Rashes are mostly noticeable on the animal’s head, neck and legs.

He said the virus can be spread from one animal to another by mosquitoes, insect bites and drinking water in a manger.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2022