Lumpy Skin Disease: Punjab Ministers Order Vaccination Of Cattle In 3 Days

A group of ministers formed to monitor and control the spread of Lumpy Skin disease, Tuesday asked the state animal husbandry department to vaccinate all the cattle in Punjab's cow shelters within three days.

Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and Animal Husbandry Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar also directed that the relief work should be carried out on a mission mode.      

To ensure the target of vaccinating 50,000 cattle per day, the cabinet ministers said, "We have to strictly deal with this calamity. And, the lackadaisical approach in the ongoing prevention work will not be tolerated."       

They also gave instructions to issue show cause notices to the employees with poor performance, saying that all the holidays of the employees should be cancelled to ensure the timely treatment of the animals.

They also asked to use generic medicines as per requirement. Principal Secretary Vikas Pratap apprised the ministers that to date, the animal husbandry department has received 6.86 lakh doses of the goat pox vaccine.

Over 3.31 lakh cattle have been vaccinated, while more than 3.54 lakh doses of goat pox vaccine are available with the department.

He said 1,08,958 animals are suspected to have been affected by the lumpy skin disease out of which 64,475 animals are cured.          

While reviewing the ongoing operations to prevent African swine fever, the ministers said that the guidelines of the "Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, 2009" should be implemented in letter and spirit and the movement of pigs should be strictly banned.

Mr Bhullar said 'Manjal Khurd', the third area in district Patiala, has been notified as a containment zone for the prevention of African swine fever (ASF).

He said the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) -- National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal has confirmed ASF in swine samples from this area.

Punjab has already been declared a "controlled area" after ASF was detected in two areas namely, 'Bilaspur' and 'Sanauri Adda' of district Patiala.

Meanwhile, the inter-state movement of any pig or its belongings has been strictly banned. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)