'Carcasses of LSD infected animals being thrown in water canals'

NAWABSHAH: Several animals, died of Lumpy Skin Disease in the live stock, have been thrown into water canals here, local citizens claimed.

They also claimed an increase in deaths of animals by the viral infection. Locals complained that the Sindh Livestock Department has yet to take notice of the situation.

Recently, the Sindh livestock department had shared figures which suggested that as many as 54 animals had died due to the Lumpy Skin Disease that has so far infected over 20,000 animals, including 15,100 in Karachi alone, across the province.

According to the department the infection had appeared in animals in Punjab and Sindh.

Originally found in Africa, lumpy skin disease, a viral infection of cattle, has spread to countries in the Middle East, Asia, and eastern Europe, experts said.

The concerned department however, yet to disclose its strategy to tackle the disease and whether the virus could transmit into humans consuming meat or milk of the infected animals.

The dairy farmers had earlier demanded an immediate intervention of the government to control the viral disease. They had also demanded specialist advice and provision of medicines to cattle farmers to tackle the disease.

The lumpy skin disease is transmitted by blood-feeding insects, such as certain species of flies and mosquitoes, or ticks. It causes fever, nodules beneath the skin and can also lead to death, according to experts.

According to an alert “Human disease has not been well documented. Consuming meat or milk doesn’t transmit the infection to human,” it said. However, it advised that food safety should be ensured which included consumption of only pasteurised or well-boiled milk and milk products, thorough cooking of meat, and proper washing of hands with soap and water after handling meat.

Sindh government has decided to shut down cattle markets across the province amid the emergence of the infection in animals.