PTI demands vaccination of cattle to control lumpy skin disease

By our correspondent

While expressing its grave concerns over the spread of the lumpy skin disease in Sindh, the Karachi chapter of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) censured the Sindh livestock department for not initiating the vaccination drive in time to save animals from the disease.

“The rapid spread of the lumpy skin disease in cattle in the city is a matter of grave concern and the people of Karachi are terrified,” PTI Karachi president and Sindh Assembly member Bilal Ghaffar said on Saturday.

Criticizing the Sindh Livestock and Fisheries Department, the PTI leader said that the government officials were sitting idle instead of taking steps to control the spread of the disease. “There is no check and balance in the livestock department,” he said.

He demanded that the livestock department should immediately launch a vaccination drive in Sindh, particularly in Karachi, and directed the department to vaccinate the affected animals on an immediate basis.

Ghaffar said the livelihoods of millions of people were associated with the livestock business, adding that the profiteers had also been exploiting the spread of the disease and they had started robbing the residents by selling chicken meat at higher prices.

The PTI leader asked where the administration of the Sindh government is. In this situation, the price control department seemed to be completely inactive. He demanded of the provincial government to take steps on a priority basis to control the spread of the disease.