Lumpy skin disease training programme

The National Veterinary Laboratory (NVL), Ministry of National Food Security and Research, concluded the second batch of 2-day hands-on training on the diagnosis and control of lumpy skin disease in Islamabad. The training was attended by 36 participants from provincial livestock departments and veterinary universities.

Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister of National Food Security, handed out the certificates and stated that the federal government will take all necessary measures to combat the disease.

The training session is one timely step to empower provinces to diagnose the disease at a divisional level. He further said that a vaccine for the disease has been approved and it will be available within one week to dairy farmers.

Dr. Agha Waqar Yunus shed light on the importance of confirmatory PCR tests in the diagnosis and control of the disease. The participants received hands-on training for a PCR test for Lumpy Skin Disease, which has been standardised and validated at NVL. The standardised test reduces the cost of testing by half. The training programme will be continued in the future, and NVL will train 20 new participants each week from the provinces.

Here are some pictures: