Jharkhand facing acute shortage of goat pox vaccine: Official

  • | Thursday | 15th September, 2022

Ranchi, Sep 15 (PTI) Jharkhand is facing an acute shortage of goat pox vaccine which is in demand for inoculating healthy cattle to check occurrence of lumpy skin disease (LSD), an official said on Thursday.The vaccine is the only shot available in the market to contain the spread of LSD among cattle.The commercial launch of a new vaccine ‘Lumpi-ProVacInd’ for LSD might take three to four months, the official said.Meanwhile, two bovines have died in Ranchi due to suspected lumpy skin disease.The eastern state has so far reported over 10 cases of suspected LSD.The samples of the affected cattle are being sent to Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Kolkata, the official said.“In Ranchi, two cattle deaths have so far been reported from Chanho and Mandar blocks in the past two days. The condition of one bovine is serious due to the suspected disease in Nagri block. The samples are being sent for identification of the disease,” Ranchi animal husbandry officer (DHO) Anil Kumar told PTI.Symptoms of the disease have so far been reported from six blocks of Ranchi district - Lapung, Mandar, Chanho, Ormanjhi, Nagri, and Kanke, he said.LSD is a contagious viral disease that spreads among cattle through mosquitoes, flies, lice, and wasps by direct contact, and also through contaminated food and water. It does not transmit from cattle to humans.The symptoms include high fever, reduced milk production, skin nodules, loss of appetite, and watery eyes.“We are facing an acute shortage of goat pox vaccine in Ranchi. The vaccine has been approved by the Government of India for LSD, as the vaccine for the lumpy skin disease is yet to hit the market,” Kumar said.Goat pox, sheep pox, and LSD belong to the same capripoxvirus genus.The animal husbandry department has provided Rs 15,000 for immediate purchase of the vaccine but it is not available in the market, he said.“We managed to procure around 400 doses of the vaccine from the districts of which 350 doses have already by utilised. Currently, we have just 50 doses in stock,” Kumar said.Not only Ranchi, but the other districts of the state are also facing a similar shortage of goat pox vaccine.Director of Institute of Animal Health and Production, Vipin Bihari Mahta, told PTI, “Due to the sudden rise in demand, the stock might have declined in the market. We hope things to be normalised in a week.” State animal husbandry director Shashi Prakash Jha told PTI, that only two companies in the country manufacture this vaccine.“We have contacted the companies for supplying the vaccine to Jharkhand. However, the delivery might take 10-15 days due to some procedural formalities,” Jha said.District officials have been asked to purchase the vaccine from their sources for emergency use, the animal husbandry director said.“The officials have also been asked to ensure fogging, demarcation of suspected areas, and other precautionary measure to control the spread of the disease,” Jha said.Over 67,000 cattle have died due to LSD in more than eight states, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana, since July. PTI SAN MM MM


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