The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government here on Tuesday decided to launch a large-scale special vaccination campaign to effectively control the Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) of cattle. During the campaign, seven million cattle will be vaccinated against the disease. The decision was made in a meeting held regarding LSD with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mahmood Khan in the chair. Provincial Ministers Taimur Saleem Jhagra and Mohib Ullah Khan, Additional Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Amjad Ali Khan, Secretary Agriculture and Livestock Israr Khan and other concerned senior officials also attended the meeting. The meeting reviewed the latest situation of the disease across the province and important decisions were made regarding the future course of action to prevent the spread of LSD. It was decided in the meeting to ensure availability of trained manpower to vaccinate maximum cattle in the shortest possible time. During the campaign, 7 million cattle will be vaccinated against LSD and it had been decided to purchase the vaccine on emergency basis.

The chief minister directed the finance department to provide the required funds for the purchase of vaccines on priority and said that timely prevention of the disease was the first priority of the government. He further directed to purchase the vaccines on urgent basis. The chief minister said that livestock was the major source of income for most of the people in the province and in case of further spreading of LSD, huge damage would be inflicted so timely and effective measures needed to be taken to protect the people from this possible damage. He also directed the Livestock department, District Administrations and other relevant authorities to immediately prepare a workable plan to effectively control LSD and said that the provincial government would provide all the financial resources to prevent the disease.

Credit:
Independent News Pakistan-INP