The Gujarat government on Wednesday decided to buy 11 lakh doses of “goat pox vaccine” to tackle Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD), a rapidly spreading epidemic among the animal population in the state. A massive vaccination drive has been undertaken in Saurashtra and Kutch to control this viral illness that causes prolonged morbidity in cows and buffaloes. After deaths of animals were reported, three lakh cattle were vaccinated and the state currently has a stock of two lakh doses of the vaccine, said State Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel. “We are getting reports that a viral disease called Lumpy Skin Disease is spreading among cattle — especially among cows — in nine districts of Saurashtra region, Kutch and Surat. The disease is spreading and so we have decided to undertake widespread vaccination of cattle in these areas. We do not have an exact figure of cattle deaths. But it is a fact that the deaths are happening,” said Patel, addressing mediapersons. The government has also deployed the Karuna Animal Ambulance Service that operates under the helpline number 1962 to help “treat and control LSD”. The service launched in October 2017 with GVK-EMRI has over 37 animal ambulances. “At present, we have two lakh doses of vaccines. On Wednesday, we have also decided to immediately buy as many vaccines doses as needed. So far we have vaccinated three lakh cattle,” the minister added. Director of Animal husbandry, Dr Falguni Thakar, later told The Indian Express that the state government will order 11 lakh doses of “goat pox vaccine” to counter LSD. “We plan to order 11 lakh doses of goat pox vaccine. We will target only the affected villages and talukas during the vaccination drive,” she added. Apart Kutch and Surat, the districts of Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Porbandar, Surendranagar, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Gir Somnath and Morbi districts are among those that have seen prevalence of LSD. “This is a capripox virus. This disease is contagious and spreads fast. It spreads through ticks, mites and blood sucking vectors. Last year, the number of affected animals was very less. But this year it has spread quickly,” Dr Thakar added. According to the animal husbandry department, Gujarat has an estimated two crore of cows and buffaloes and in the 11 districts of Saurashtra and Kutch region, the cattle population is around 44 lakh. However, very few cases have got registered with the animal husbandry department. “At present, we have 35 cases officially registered with our department,” the official added.
