Lumpy skin disease: Over 3.22 lakh cattle to be vaccinated in Khammam

The presence of the disease has been reported in Kusumanchi, Bonakal and Tirumalapalem mandals for the first time in the district.

Khammam: The Veterinary and Animal Husbandry department in the district has taken up a special drive to vaccinate cattle against lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) with three cattle reported to have tested positive for the disease.

The presence of the disease has been reported in Kusumanchi, Bonakal and Tirumalapalem mandals for the first time in the district. However, no casualties of cattle have been reported because of the disease, the department joint director Dr. B Venu Manohara Rao told Telangana Today on Tuesday.

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He informed that the vaccination drive would cover as many as 3.22 lakh cattle in the district, of which 90, 000 are cows (white animals) and 2.32 lakh are buffalos (black animals). The field level staff has been engaged to administer vaccines to cattle. The vaccination drive would likely be completed in the next 15 to 20 days, during which the white animals would be covered followed by black animals. All steps have been to cover 100 percent cattle in the district, the official said. The cattle are being administered goat pox vaccine which has been authorised for administering against lumpy skin disease virus.

A farmer Mamidi Venkateshwarlu of Kusumanchi donated three kilograms of Methane Blue (cattle life saving drug) worth Rs 30,000.

Meanwhile, permission for procurement of dairy units under Dalit Bandhu has been given as the Central government lifted the ban imposed on the transportation of cattle between states in view of spread of LSDV sometime back. Over 500 beneficiaries have selected dairy units, officials informed.

District Collector VP Gautham informed that five to six teams would be formed for collecting dairy units. The collection of units would be completed by Dec 15. Veterinary officers are told to regularly monitor the cattle brought from distant places and set up veterinary camps in the villages where the units have been received.

Few cases reported in Peddapalli

Peddapalli: The death of a cow of lumpy skin disease in Pusala of Sultanabad municipality in October, has led to the Karimnagar SC Corporation officials temporarily halting the grounding of dairy units under Dalit Bandhu scheme following the ban on transportation of animals from one State to another.

Since the buffalos were being imported from North Indian States, officials stopped grounding of dairy units. It is learnt that a few animals, especially white skinned animals, were also infected by the disease in Jagtial and Peddapalli districts.