In view of rising concerns over lumpy skin disease, which has claimed the lives of over 67,000 cattle in July so far, state animal husbandry commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh said that a preventive vaccination drive against lumpy skin disease will be completed in 48 hours. . affected villages of the state
Speaking to PTI, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying Jatindra Nath Swain said that the state is currently using ‘goat pox’ vaccine to control Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in cattle.
He said the commercial launch of a new vaccine for LSD, ‘Lumpi-Provakind’, developed by two institutes of agricultural research body ICAR, will take the next “three-four months”. Lumpy skin disease has spread mainly in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. There are some sporadic cases in Andhra Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
“In Rajasthan, the death toll is 600-700 per day. But in other states it is less than 100 a day.” He said that the ministry has asked the states to expedite the vaccination process. According to Swain, the goat pox vaccine is “100 percent effective” and already 15 million doses have been administered in the affected states.
He also said that there is sufficient supply of goat pox vaccine in the country. Two companies are manufacturing this vaccine and they have the capacity to make 40 million doses in a month. The total cattle population is about 20 crores. He said that 1.5 crore goat pox doses have been given so far.
He said that in areas where no cases have been reported, just 1 ml of goat pox vaccine is enough to help fight LSD. With regard to the new vaccine, Swain said that the commercial launch of “Lumpi-ProVacInd” will take the next “three-four months”. “Manufacturers have to take permission from the Drug Controller General” India (DCGI) for commercial production of new vaccines. It will take next 3-4 months for commercial launch,” he said.
On the impact of LSD on milk production, RS Sodhi, managing director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets dairy products under the Amul brand, said there was a marginal impact of 0.5 per cent on milk production in Gujarat. He said that the situation in Gujarat is under control with the vaccination process.
Sodhi said the impact could be slightly higher in other states. “Procurement of organized milk producers, including Amul, has come down compared to the period a year ago. But LSD cannot be held responsible for this. Unlike last year, unorganized players, sweet makers and hotels are aggressively procuring milk,” he said. Manish Bandlish, MD, Mother Dairy, said, “There has been a marginal impact on production in the overall plan. LSD entered India, Bangladesh and China in July 2019. Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a contagious viral disease that affects cattle and causes fever, lumps on the skin, and can even lead to death. The disease is spread by mosquitoes, flies, lice and wasps, through direct contact with cattle and through contaminated food and water.
According to the 19th Livestock Census, India, the world’s largest milk producer, had a cattle population of 192.5 million in 2019.
(with inputs from PTI)
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