Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) on Tuesday approved import of lumpy skin disease (LSD) vaccine. The registration board of DRAP granted approval for import of the vaccine for an infectious disease among cattle in its session.
The regulatory authority has granted import permit to two companies of Karachi and Punjab, DRAP officials said. DRAP has allowed the companies to import the vaccine for the animal disease from Turkey and Jordan, officials said.
The lumpy skin disease has infected thousands of cows in Pakistan, federal officials said.
According to a report as many as 171 animals have died owing to the infectious disease among cattle in Sindh, according to a report of provincial task force.
The lumpy skin disease (LSD) has so far been found in 23,227 animals in the province, 171 of whom have died.
Provincial livestock minister in a press conference said the viral disease had infected 16,000 cows in Karachi. The disease had been present in the world for the past 100 years, but its first case in Sindh was reported in November last year.
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, has 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.
Sindh government has decided to shut down cattle markets across the province amid the emergence of the infection in animals.
