The vaccination of cattle (mainly cows) against the lumpy skin disease started in Haryana’s Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bhiwani, Fatehabad and other districts on Thursday after goat pox vaccines have been delivered to animal husbandry and dairying departments in these districts.
As per data provided by the deputy director (animal husbandry and dairying department), a total of 64,500 vaccines have been delivered in Fatehabad, 43,000 in Rohtak, 25,000 in Bhiwani and 40,500 in Jhajjar on Thursday.
Jhajjar deputy commissioner Capt Shakti Singh said various teams of doctors have been formed to vaccinate healthy cattle.
“There are nearly 60,000 domestic cattle and 17,000 cattle in the gaushala of the district. The administration has shared animal husbandry department doctors’ numbers with the villagers and appealed to them to take guidance from the doctors. The vaccination drive has been started in large numbers and we are hoping to inoculate the cattle at the earliest,” the Jhajjar DC Singh added.
Bhiwani deputy director (animal husbandry and dairying department) Dr Jaswant Singh said they have received 5,000 vaccines earlier and 25,000 today to vaccinate cows which stood at 38,500 in the district.
“We have not reported a single case of lumpy skin disease in buffaloes so we are vaccinating only cows. We are expecting to vaccinate all the healthy cows within a week. We will get 9,000 more goat pox vaccines after these vaccines are administered. Cattle that have been infected or recovered from the infection will not be vaccinated for the time being,” he added.
Fatehabad deputy director Dr Sukhwinder Singh said the vaccination process has been started in cattle to save them from contagious lumpy skin disease and avoid any dip in milk production.
“We are vaccinating the cattle free of cost and medicines are also being provided to cattle, if required. Nearly 64% of infected cattle have recovered from the infection in the district,” he added.
Rohtak deputy director of animal husbandry and dairying department Dr Surya Khatkar said 6,500 cattle have been given jabs in the district and all the cows will be vaccinated in the next five days in the district.
“The vaccination process remained slow today because the staff remained busy transporting vaccines to various centres in the district. We urge the cattle owners not to worry and spray disinfectant where their cattle are kept. The infected cows should be kept away from healthy cows,” he added.
