KARACHI, April 21: The provincial directorate of Animal Husbandry has advised livestock owners and farmers to get their animals vaccinated against black quarter, foot-and-mouth, enterotoxemia and sheep pox diseases that usually surface during April and June.

Talking about the risks of the diseases, Dr Hafeez Shaikh, in-charge of the Government Veterinary Hospital, Landhi, told Dawn that all the four diseases were quite common and posed serious threats to the animals’ health, at times resulting in a low milk production.

Black quarter and enterotoxemia were bacterial diseases while foot-and-mouth and sheep pox were viral, he said, adding that though these diseases existed throughout the year, their outbreaks usually occurred during April and June.

“Caused by Clostridium chauvoei, black quarter is more common among cows. Its symptoms include inflammation of legs and high temperature. Treatment is difficult and mortality rate is as high as 80 per cent,” he said.

About foot-and-mouth, he said that it was mostly found in Punjab where cross-breeding from foreign animals was a common practice. “We advise farmers to get their animals vaccinated against these diseases 15 days prior to their transport to Sindh. Mortality is very low among big animals, but too high among the calves. More common in big animals, the foot-and-mouth disease has also been reported among sheep and goats in some areas.”

Enterotoxemia, he said, was caused by a bacterium, clostridium perfringens also known as ‘overeating disease’. It attacks mostly fat animals and was more common among sheep and goats.

Explaining the risks of sheep pox, he said it affected the mouth and udder of sheep and if precautionary measures were not taken, animal keepers might also get infected.

He advised that farmers must vaccinate their animals at least 15 days prior to the beginning of any season. All vaccines were easily available in the open market and were administered free-of-cost at government veterinary hospitals, he said.