Chandigarh, July 27:
On the instructions of Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Development Minister S. Laljit Singh Bhullar, the Animal Husbandry Department has formed district level teams for preventing infectious disease “lumpy skin” in animals.
District level teams will visit villages and provided the farmers with necessary measures to protect infected animals from the disease, said S. Laljit Singh Bhullar, while adding that the North Regional Division Diagnostic Lab (NRDDL) Jalandhar team has also been instructed to visit all the affected districts. The teams will start visiting the affected districts from July 28 onwards. He said, all the officials and employees of the department have been entrusted upon the duty to help the animal keepers by all means. Therefore, livestock keepers should not panic and avoid any kind of rumours besides immediately contact nearest veterinary dispensary if they found any animal infected with lumpy skin.
This disease has outspread from the southern states and spreads more during rainy season due to the bites of mosquitoes etc. Hence, the animals surroundings should be kept clean and infected animals should be separated from others, he added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Subhash Chander, Director, Animal Husbandry said that animal farmers need not to panic. Referring to the symptoms of the disease, he said that animal, infected with the disease gets high fever and skin gets blisters. If any farmer’s animal shows symptoms of such diseases, he should separate healthy animals from the affected one, and immediately contact nearby veterinary dispensary.
Dr. Chander said that the news of the death of hundreds of animals in district Fazilka in a section of the media is completely baseless. The team under Deputy Director Animal Husbandry Department Fazilka has visited affected areas today and no such matter has come to light, informed the director.
