DW BUREAU / Chandigarh The Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has chalked out an action plan for early prevention of Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle to counter any other possible wave. The Group of Ministers (GoM) closely gauging the current situation and planning future strategies to prevent revival of LSD in the state, on Friday decided to start a vaccination campaign from February 15, 2023. During the meeting of the GoM here at Punjab Bhawan, Finance Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema and Animal Husbandry Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar directed the officials of Animal Husbandry department to start the vaccination drive from February 15 and vaccinate the entire 25 lakh cattle population in the state by April 30, 2023. The Ministers asked the officials concerned to make a foolproof strategy to complete this vaccination target in the given time frame. They also directed officials to immediately initiate the process for procuring about 25 lakh doses at cost effective prices from the Veterinary Biological and Research Institute, Hyderabad (Telangana). In the meeting, experts from the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) apprised the group of ministers that the national rate of buffaloes being affected by lumpy skin disease was around 1 to 1.5 percent. On this, the Cabinet Ministers directed to form a 7-member committee to decide on the need of vaccinating buffaloes with goat pox vaccine. The committee would comprise 3 experts from GADVASU, 2 from Animal Husbandry Department, Punjab 1 each from Animal Husbandry Department, Government of India and Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly. This committee would submit its report and recommendations within 10 days. Meanwhile, during the review of the vaccination campaign for Hemorrhagic Septicemia (HS) disease and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), the cabinet ministers were apprised that Animal Husbandry department has completed the HS vaccination drive, while the FMD vaccination campaign would be completed by November 30. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema directed the officials to launch an awareness campaign to sensitise the farmers especially dairy farmers of the state regarding the prevention of deadly diseases in the livestock so that they can opt precautionary measures at an early stage. Mr. Vikas Pratap, Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department said that no new case of Lumpy Skin Disease has been reported in the state. He said that so far about 9.21 lakh cattle have been vaccinated with goat pox while 94 thousand doses were available with the department. (editor@dailyworld.in)