Vaccination drive for animals begins in Hoshiarpur district

Our Correspondent

Hoshiarpur, May 27

A vaccination drive for animals against Hemorrhagic Septicemia (HS) began at Civil Veterinary Hospital, Bajwara, on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion, veterinary officer Dr Rana Preet Gill said, “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the state government has waived the fee for not only the HS vaccine but for other diseases like black quarter, PPR (in goats) and Ranikhet (in poultry) as well.”

She said the move would benefit 70 lakh animals in the state as the vaccine fee amounting to Rs3.5 crore will not be charged from animal owners.

Dr Amarjeet Singh, deputy director, said the department had formed around 25 teams for a door-to-door vaccination drive. He said around 3.2 lakh animals in the district will be vaccinated during the drive.

Dr Rana said every vaccinated animal would be tagged under the Information Network for Animal Productivity and Health (INAPH) project. She said the foot and mouth disease vaccine was already being provided free of cost to animal owners.

She appealed to farmers to get their animals vaccinated so that they can be saved from the dreaded disease, which had a high mortality rate. Hemorrhagic septicemia is a bacterial disease that mainly affects cattle and buffalo and is an important cause of livestock mortality leading to immense financial loss to animal owners.