KARACH: Pakistan’s drug regulatory authority on Tuesday approved the import of vaccines from Jordan and Turkey to fight a debilitating virus in cattle that causes a condition called ‘lumpy skin disease,’ senior officials said, following an outbreak in the southern Sindh province that has killed over 170 animals since last November.
First observed in 1929 in Zambia, LSD is a viral infection that causes fever and multiple nodules on the skin and mucous membranes of animals. The disease is transmitted by bloodsucking insects like ticks and mosquitoes and is rarely fatal. The disease does not affect people.
LSD was first reported in Pakistan’s Jamshoro district in Sindh last November. Since then, 25,866 animals have been infected in the province, of which 172 have died.
“The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan [DRAP] has allowed two companies in Karachi and Punjab to import vaccination to deal with lumpy skin disease among animals,” said a statement circulated by DRAP officials while the body’s board meeting to discuss the issue was underway.
The statement said Punjab’s Huzaifa International could import the vaccine from Turkey and Karachi-based Aros Pharma from Jordon.
The director general livestock in Karachi, Dr. Nazir Hussain, also corroborated the development to Arab News.
Abdul Bari Khan Pitafi, Sindh Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, said on Monday the province had approached the federal government to allow the import of anti-LSD vaccines months ago, but permission was not granted in a timely manner.
“We started discussing the possibility of importing the vaccine in November 2021 when the first LSD case emerged,” Pitafi told a news conference. “After permission from DRAP, the vaccine import will now begin.”
Dr. Javed Humayun, a spokesperson of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, said DRAP had been requested to register private firms that had applied for LSD vaccines.
“Symptomatic treatment of animals has already been advised,” he told Arab News. “The use of goatpox vaccine is recommended as an alternative to LSD vaccine in affected areas for disease prevention.”
Pitafi said the province had ordered 300,000 doses of goatpox vaccine from Punjab and hoped that 30,000 doses would be available by Tuesday.
Meanwhile, as the country as yet to import vaccines and launch a mass campaign, dairy farmers in Karachi said they were suffering huge losses due to a decline in their milk sales. LSD’s accompanying symptoms include much lower milk production.
“The disease has frightened milk consumers and our sales have sharply declined by about two million liters from 4.5 million liters that we previously supplied to the city,” Shakir Umar Gujjar, president Dairy and Cattle Farmers Association (DCFA), told Arab News.
Meat merchants have also witnessed a decrease in their revenue since scared buyers have abstained from making purchases.
“Around 75 percent of meat shops in Karachi have not been operating,” Sikandar Iqbal Qureshi, general secretary of Meat Merchants Welfare Association, told Arab News on Tuesday. “The rest of the 25 percent have remained open only to sell about five to 10 kilograms per day.”
Qureshi said up to 12,000 animals were slaughtered in Karachi on a daily basis before the outbreak of the disease.
Pakistan approves vaccine import from Jordan, Turkey following cattle skin disease outbreak
https://arab.news/jjbdp
Pakistan approves vaccine import from Jordan, Turkey following cattle skin disease outbreak
- Virus that causes a condition called ‘lumpy skin disease' has killed over 170 animals since last November in Sindh
- Sindh minister says province approached federal government to allow import months ago but did not get timely permission
Over 200 security forces personnel killed in Balochistan militant attacks in 2025— chief minister
- Pakistani security forces launched thousands of operations, killed 760 militants, says Sarfraz Bugti
- Pakistan’s military media wing says 12 “Indian-sponsored militants” killed in Balochistan’s Kalat district
ISLAMABAD: Over 200 security forces personnel were killed in several militant attacks in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province this year, Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said on Sunday.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by since yet its most backward by almost all social and economic indicators, has suffered from a bloody separatist insurgency for decades launched by ethnic Baloch militant groups. The most prominent among them is the Balochistan Liberation Army.
These militant outfits accuse the military and federal government of denying the local Baloch population a share in the province’s mineral wealth, charges Islamabad denies.
“We have lost [in one year] 205 security forces personnel, including paramilitary, uniformed, police, levies, and along with that, there are six officers,” Bugti told reporters during a press conference.
The chief minister said Balochistan had witnessed 900 militant attacks throughout the year, adding that the number of civilian casualties was recorded at 280.
Bugti said security forces had also launched thousands of intelligence-based operations in 2025 against militants.
“Out of those, the terrorists who have been killed so far, that is 760,” he said.
TWELVE MILITANTS KILLED IN KALAT
Separately, the Pakistani military’s media wing said on Sunday that security forces had killed 12 “Indian-sponsored militants” in Balochistan’s Kalat district on Dec. 6.
It said the militants belonged to Indian proxy “Fitna al Hindustan,” a term the military uses frequently to describe ethnic Baloch militant groups who demand independence from Pakistan. Islamabad accuses New Delhi of arming and funding these separatist groups, charges India has always denied.
“Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area,” the ISPR said.
Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan, has seen a surge in militant attacks in recent months. Pakistan’s military said on Saturday that security forces had killed five militants in the Dera Bugti area of the province.
