Lumpy skin disease: Vaccination drive intensified; only 158 bovines infected in Prayagraj
Efforts are underway in Prayagraj to protect cattle from lumpy skin disease through vaccination and awareness campaigns. The disease has affected 160 villages, but cases have reduced significantly. So far, 4.72 lakh vaccine doses have been administered to 1.76 lakh bovines in the district. Only 158 bovines are currently infected, with six deaths recorded. Vaccination teams are actively working to prevent further spread, and inter-district transport of cattle has been banned.
All-out efforts are underway in Prayagraj to protect the cattle from lumpy skin disease which easily gets transmitted by flies, mosquitoes, and ticks.
It causes fever, formation of nodules on the skin and can also lead to death, especially in animals that that have not previously been exposed to the virus, said district officials.
The steps taken have greatly controlled the spread of the disease and protected the bovine population of the district, they claim.
As per records of the veterinary department, so far, 4.72 lakh doses of vaccines have been delivered to Prayagraj district in batches by the state government. These vaccines have so far also been administered to 1.76 lakh bovines in the district, said chief veterinary officer Prayagraj Dr Anil Kumar.
There are 5,60,567 bovines in Prayagraj and infections of this virus were reported in 160 villages of the district. However, the cases have reduced rapidly owing to the efforts of the vaccination drives and awareness among the dairy owners, the officer said.
Dr Kumar said that at present only 158 bovines in the district are infected from lumpy disease and are being treated. So far, only six animals have died due to the infection from this virus, he added.
Officials said that vaccination campaign is going on at a fast pace to prevent the infection from spreading further in the district.
District veterinary officer said 80 teams have been formed for vaccination. Even at the block level, the employees of the department are continuously organising camps and vaccinating the cattle, they said.
On behalf of the Animal Husbandry Department, 25 teams are continuously active in making the cattle owners aware of the symptoms of this disease and ways of its prevention. These teams are going from village to village giving information about the lumpy disease to the people, officials said.
To effectively reduce the infection, inter-district transport of the cattle has been completely banned at present.
Animals infected with the virus have been completely isolated from other cattle. Vaccination of all the cattle has been done by running an intensive vaccination campaign in all the 126 cow shelter sites of the district as well, the officials shared.
