KOHAT: The lumpy skin disease (LSD) is fast spreading in rural areas of Kohat district due to shortage of vaccine to treat the diseased cattle.

Deputy director of veterinary research and disease investigation centre, Kohat, Dr Sohail expressed grave concern over the shortage of vaccines. He told Dawn that more than 35,000 cattle heads had so far been vaccinated. However, he said calves of the infected animals required to be vaccinated against the disease immediately.

Dr Sohail said they had submitted demand to the provincial authorities, but arrival of the vaccine had been delayed as it was imported from Turkiye.

He said the people were poor and mostly depended upon livestock for their subsistence. He said over 120 animals had died so far, while teams were collecting further data from the whole of Kohat.

He said he had directed his staff to spread awareness among people that they should immediately contact the livestock department in case their cattle got infected with LSD.

He brushed aside the rumours that the milk and meat of the infected animals was harmful for human consumption.

To a question that over 50 dead animals had been dumped in front of the Dhoda ground, he said it was responsibility of the tehsil municipal administration to bury the dead animals.

Tehsil municipal officer Amin Gul told Dawn that the dumping site was in the limits of the cantonment, and that he would ask them to remove the dead animals from there to avoid spread of diseases.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2022