ISLAMABAD (ABC): The federal government has launched a national program to eradicate PPR disease in sheep and goats with the support of the provincial governments, Federal Minister for Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain said on Monday.
The PPR, also called ‘Goat Plague’, is an acute, highly contagious and transboundary viral disease of sheep and goats which causes high morbidity and mortality.
Federal Minister Rana Tanveer said sheep and goats provide livelihood to millions of rural families in Pakistan. He said free vaccination for PPR disease will be provided to the farmers under the national program. He said due to the integrated strategy of the federal and provincial governments, the rate of PPR disease has decreased significantly in the recent days.
Rana Tanveer said Pakistan has signed a global agreement to end PPR by year 2028. He said in the year 2022-23, the federal government has provided 31.35 million doses of PPR vaccines to the provinces.
Rana Tanveer said the government is ensuring all necessary measures to protect animals from diseases. “Through joint efforts, we can build a strong, healthy future for Pakistan’s livestock sector,” he maintained.
The minister said vaccination teams of provincial livestock departments are engaged in village-to-village vaccination campaign. He said controlling the disease will increase the productivity of mutton and goat milk in the country.
Earlier, Livestock Commissioner Muhammad Akram’s addressed a seminar on PPR control and elimination held in Islamabad. Addressing the session, he said the federal government is ensuring effective measures for the prevention of PPR. He said PPR is an infectious disease of sheep and goats. Symptoms of the disease in sheep include high fever, discharge of mucus from the eyes and nose, he said. He said mortality rate in infected goats is 60 to 80 percent.