Lumpy skin disease and Eid-ul-Azha: How to buy sacrificial animals this year?
With the arrival of Eid-ul-Azha, markets for sacrificial animals begin to open in the city and a large number of sacrificial animals are brought to the city from within Sindh and Punjab.
Nowadays, a large number of people in the cattle markets are busy buying animals for Eid-ul-Azha. Let’s see what this disease is and how to buy animals on Eid?
What is a Lumpy skin virus?
According to scientists, the disease called lumpy skin virus has been diagnosed in animals for the last century. It is a viral disease that affects cattle.
Dr. Abdullah Arejo, Professor of Veterinary Medicine, Sindh Agricultural University, Tando Jam, said that just as humans get smallpox or chicken pox or animals get ‘shape pox’ and ‘goat pox’. It is a disease in which rashes appear on the body of an animal and spread inside the body and also on the tongue.
After that, with the passage of time, pus starts filling in these grains and the animals are in so much pain that they cannot even sit due to the severity of the pain. Dr. Arejo said the disease was first diagnosed in African animals in 1929 and was later reported in India and Sri Lanka.
How did this disease spread in Pakistan?
The disease is easily spread from one animal to another. When a mosquito or a fly lands on the wound of a sick animal, it also carries the virus to another animal. Regarding the spread of Lumpy Skin Disease, Dr. Rehman, Focal Person, Livestock Department, Punjab, claimed that according to our research, the disease has come to India from Pakistan, while in Punjab, the disease has come from Sindh.
He said that the first case was reported in Punjab in March 2022 and so far the total number of infected animals in Punjab is about 11,000 and the number of dead animals is about 50.
The Livestock Department claimed that the number of animals infected with the virus in Punjab is less than one percent while the Livestock Department has so far vaccinated millions of animals and this process is still going on.
Business disturbed due to illness
This year on Eid-ul-Azha, the majority of traders are worried about the sale of animals, this is what the majority is saying that even half of the goods they had brought have not been sold yet, while there are only 6 days left in Eid-ul-Azha.
Businessmen say that the government should take steps in this regard because if it does not do so, we will suffer a lot. According to a trader, every year we try to bring back whatever animals we bring to the cattle market for sale, but this year the situation seems to be such that the sale of animals will be greatly affected.
Concerned buyers
Eid-ul-Azha is an occasion when even those who are in dire financial straits try to make sacrifices. Everyone tries to perform this religious duty and enjoy the joys of Eid.
On this Eid-ul-Azha, a large number of citizens are worried about the sacrificial animal, most of them fearing that the meat of the animal they are buying will be edible or not. Somewhere after eating it we will not get sick.
How to buy an animal?
Experts say that when an animal recovers from a lumpy disease, it is 100 percent marketable and its meat is usable.
According to experts, animals that have this disease are clearly visible on the bodies of those animals, so when buying an animal, buy it with good comfort and care. He also said that one should try to wash and cook the meat thoroughly on Eid-ul-Azha as it greatly reduces the chances of getting sick.
