CS orders vaccination drive for livestock

The state government will launch a special campaign to secure the four crore animals in UP against haemorrhagic septicaemia, a common and recurrent contagious disease that affects livestock every year. Chief secretary Deepak Singhal on Sunday issued a circular to all the district magistrate and commissioners asking them to ensure vaccination of all the four crore animals by August 20. He asked them to launch an intensive vaccination drive under the Assistance to States for Control of Animal Diseases (ASCAD) to prevent the spread of haemorrhagic septicaemia among the livestock. Singhal said that vaccine for this purpose should be preserved through cold chain. The CS also directed the animal husbandry department to relieve the technical staff of their routine duties during the campaign. Singhal directed all the DMs to send a district level task force in at least 50 villages to verify the vaccination exercise.