Ludhiana: 81 teams of veterinary Doctors set up to prevent spread of Lumpy skin disease

Ludhiana: The Punjab government has procured over 66,000 doses of goat pox vaccine from Hyderabad and constituted 81 teams of Veterinary doctors in Ludhiana to prevent the spread of lumpy skin disease among animals in the state.

Lumpy skin disease infects cows and buffaloes mainly through vectors like blood-feeding insects. It leads to the formation of nodes on the animal's skin or hide that look like lumps, fever, runny nose, reduced milk yield and difficulty in eating.

The district administration told TOI, "As many as 3640 livestock have been found affected from lumpy skin disease in the district and teams have been regularly keeping watch on the affected areas besides creating awareness among livestock farmers about prevention from disease. An animal infected with the disease gets a high fever from 102 F to 104 F and stops eating or drinking anything as well as the skin gets affected."

These vaccine doses will be administered free of cost to the healthy livestock, said Punjab Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Development Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar on Sunday. 

Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been hit by the outbreak of the disease. Till Saturday, over 400 cattle have died due to lumpy skin disease in a month and around 20,000, mostly cows, have been infected in Punjab. Barnala, Bathinda Faridkot, Jalandhar, Moga and Muktsar were among the worst-affected districts of the state.

Divulging the details, deputy commissioner Surabhi Malik said "The livestock keepers must not get panicky and immediately contact nearest veterinary dispensary/hospital if they found any animal infected with lumpy skin disease." Further, the affected cattle must be covered with a mosquito net and those taking care of such cattle, must wear masks, and gloves and use sanitiser.

Bhullar, who visited some dairy farms in the Khemkaran constituency on Sunday, said the goat pox vaccine, which was specially ordered from Hyderabad, has been sent to all the districts of the state and the doctors have started administering the doses. He said the Bhagwant Singh Mann-led government in Punjab was taking all necessary steps to prevent the spread of the disease.

The animal husbandry minister said officials of his department are constantly in touch with the authorities to ensure there is no shortage of vaccine doses. Rs 76 lakh has been disbursed to all districts and veterinary officers have also been deputed to help the field staff, Bhullar said.

He urged farmers to bury the carcass and not throw it in the open. The minister also asked them not to buy cattle from other states for the time being to prevent the spread of the disease.

Rajasthan has been worst hit by the outbreak of lumpy skin disease with 11 districts reporting a surge in cases, Union Animal Husbandry Minister Purushottam Rupala has said.

Rupala, who was here with a central team to take stock of the disease-affected areas, on Saturday cautioned people against drinking the milk of the affected cows and said such animals should be isolated. "Out of five affected states in the country, Rajasthan is the most affected with 11 districts reporting cases of lumpy skin disease," he had told reporters.

The minister said the central and state governments are making serious efforts to prevent the spread of the disease in cattle and will soon be able to control it. He said the infected animals should be kept separate from healthy animals and the vaccination of healthy animals should be done. Dedicated isolation centres should be set up for this purpose, he said. He further said the goat pox vaccine is completely effective to prevent this disease.