PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided a large-scale campaign to prevent the speedy spread of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in cattle.
The decision was taken in a meeting regarding lumpy skin disease held here on Tuesday with Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in the chair. The meeting reviewed the current situation of the disease in the province and preventive strategy against it.
The meeting decided the purchase of a lumpy skin preventive vaccine on an emergency basis to vaccinate 7 million cattle during the campaign.
The chief minister directed the Finance Department for providing funds on priority basis to purchase the vaccine. He also directed for taking urgent steps to make the required manpower available for vaccinating maximum cattle in minimum time period.
Mahmood Khan said that timely prevention of lumpy skin disease was the top priority of the provincial government as livestock was the major source of income of the majority population in the province. The further spread of the disease, he said, could inflict heavy losses on the livestock farmers and also stressed the need for timely and result-oriented steps to protect the people from this possible loss.
The chief minister directed the Department of Livestock, district administration and other authorities concerned to prepare a feasible preventive plan and then ensure its implementation as “we could not afford even a brief delay in this regard”. He also instructed the issuance of directives for the purchase of vaccines with immediate effect.
CM Mahmood said that the prevention of the disease required emergency-based solid steps and directed the preparation of the preventive strategy in this regard within a period of one week to start its implementation. He assured that the provincial government will provide all required financial resources to prevent the disease.