Mahendranagar, Aug 1: More than 2,000 cattle have succumbed to lumpy skin disease in Madhes Province, resulting in a significant toll on livestock and adversely affecting agriculture and income for farmers.

The distressing statistics were revealed during a program organized in Janakpur on Monday. The Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives in the province reported that Siraha district witnessed the highest number of cattle deaths, with 1,118 fatalities, while Parsa recorded the least number of deaths, with only 2 cases reported.

The lumpy skin disease primarily affects cows and oxen, and they account for the highest number of fatalities, with buffaloes being affected the least, with only 6 deaths reported.

Meanwhile, in a proactive effort to combat the fatal disease, a total of 45,825 livestock have been vaccinated across the province, according to veterinarian Dr. Ranjit Kumar Adhikari.

Sarlahi district leads in the number of vaccinations, with 12,325 cattle vaccinated. However, vaccination is still awaited in Saptari, Siraha, Mahottari, and Parsa districts.

In an endeavor to address the situation, Minister for Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives, Govind Bahadur Neupane, inaugurated the vaccination program at Gaushala of Janakpur on Monday. He informed that the provincial government had dispatched 8,000 doses of the vaccine against lumpy skin to each district.

Minister Neupane pledged the government’s commitment to finding a sustainable solution to this problem, emphasizing that the vaccination drive was a special campaign initiated to combat the outbreak.