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Lumpy skin disease: Punjab asks Centre to arrange more vaccines
Animal husbandry, fisheries and dairy development minister Laljit Singh Bhullar raised the demand at a review meeting held by Union minister for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying Parshottam Rupala
Chandigarh : The Punjab government on Tuesday asked the Centre to immediately arrange Goat Pox vaccine in adequate quantity for over 25 lakh livestock to prevent the contagious lumpy skin disease effectively in the state.
Animal husbandry, fisheries and dairy development minister Laljit Singh Bhullar raised the demand at a review meeting held by Union minister for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying Parshottam Rupala here.
He informed the central minister that the state government has administered about 2.05 lakh doses of Goat Pox vaccine to healthy cattle. Affected animals are being persistently monitored and adequate medication and other precautions are being ensured as per the government of India guidelines, he added.
The Punjab animal husbandry minister further said that the lumpy skin disease is spreading mostly among cattle and Fazilka, Muktsar, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Bathinda, Tarn Taran, Jalandhar and Amritsar district are most affected with the infectious disease. “The state government is facing a problem as there is huge difference in price of different vaccines,” he said, urging the Centre to ensure uniformity in the price and availability of doses in sufficient quantity.
Rupala assured that the price of vaccines will be rationalized and the supply of vaccine in the required quantity to the state will be ensured. He also directed the state authorities to prepare isolation wards for affected animals to prevent the disease from spreading further.
Principal secretary, animal husbandry, Punjab, Vikas Pratap said as many as 74,325 animals have been suspected to be affected by this disease in the state. Of these, 39,248 animals have been cured to date, while 3,359 deaths have been reported but these are not confirmed cases of lumpy skin disease, he added. Punjab has so far received around 3.16 lakh doses of vaccine in three phases, which have already been sent to all districts across the state, he said.
Harsimrat demands ₹50,000 relief per animal for farmers
Former Union minister and Shiromani Aksli Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Tuesday said the Punjab government should give the dairy farmers compensation of at least ₹50,000 for each animal that died due to lumpy skin disease.
The Shiromani Akali Dal MP from Bathinda also urged Union animal husbandry minister Parshottam Rupala to send central teams to Punjab for effective monitoring and vaccination of animals.
She accused the AAP government in Punjab of not doing the needful as hundreds of animals have died while thousands of cattle have been affected by this disease.
