THE recent death of a yak in Chitral, for which the ingestion of solid waste, including plastic and other harmful materials, was blamed, has raised serious concerns. Historically, rinderpest, a devastating viral disease, caused heavy animal mortality for nearly two decades leading up to 2002. It primarily devastated urban commercial dairy colonies, especially buffaloes in Karachi’s Landhi Cattle Colony and surrounding areas.
As a highly infectious transboundary animal disease (TAD), rinderpest spread rapidly across the country, eventually reaching the yaks of Chitral. This caused severe livestock losses and triggered panic among local farmers who relied entirely on yak farming for their livelihood.
Initially, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock reported the crisis to the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and the Central Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Islamabad. Despite their extensive efforts, the disease could not be controlled in either Karachi or Chitral. Pakistan then requested technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which led to a collaboration with global experts. The team visited Chitral and the Landhi Cattle Colony to collect samples from yaks and buffaloes. They successfully isolated the virus and manufactured an effective vaccine.
The vaccine doses were sent to the animal husbandry commissioner in Islamabad for mass preventive vaccination campaigns. This intervention yielded excellent results. The disease was brought under control, leading to the complete eradication of rinderpest in Pakistan, which was then officially declared free of the disease. Globally, it was eradicated in 2011.
Veterinary professionals emphasise that predisposing factors, such as poor sanitation, overcrowding and unhygienic feed, cause severe stress in animals, making them highly susceptible to pathogenic organisms.
A similar stress factor recently occurred in Chitral, where solid waste left behind by tourists after the Shandur Polo Festival compromised the environment for yaks, leading to potential re-emergence of the disease. Prompt action is needed to control emerging infectious diseases before they spread across the country.
Furthermore, farmers must be supported with capacity-building training that is focused on modern livestock management, nutrition and disease control measures.
Dr Baz Muhammad Junejo
Hyderabad
Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2026
