Dr. Waseem Shaukat of Vets’ Care Organisation in the University of Lahore, sent us the following news:
The recent flood in Pakistan is the worst ever flood in the history of Pakistan and has affected about 12 million people so far. Due to the sudden onset of the rains in Khayber Pakhtoonkhwa province, no early warnings could be given to the people. Punjab province is also badly affected, impacting on humans, animals, agriculture and infrastructure. The flood has now started in Sindh province also.
The affected areas of the Punjab have a higher population of animals affected by the flood, but there is as yet no exact idea of how many have been died, but the surviving animals are facing severe challenges to their health and feeding. As land is fully flooded, there is no fodder available for the animals, so they are quite hungry.
Vets’ Care Organisation in the University of Lahore has sent out 25 volunteer vets and students in four teams for the rescue and relief operation in the flood- affected areas of Punjab, along with medicines and vaccines. One team is working in Mianwali, the others are working in Layyah, Muzaffar Garh and Dera Ghazi Khan districts. Our major focus is to vaccinate the animals against Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (HS) and provide treatment and relief to the injured and sick animals. Provision of feed to the animals is still a major issue. We are trying to do our best with our limited resources and any help in this regard will be greatly appreciated.
a bull calf being checked
goat vaccinated against enterotoxaemia
…As an update to this news, I would like to inform you that two teams which were working around Muzaffar Garh were recalled yesterday, because the water level was again rising and a massive amount of water is heading over to Muzaffar Garh, which will cause severe flood in the already flooded areas. For this reason, the government issued a flood warning and ordered the complete evacuation of Muzaffar Garh. Both teams came back safely last night. More veterinary students from the veterinary department volunteered for the relief work. So, two new teams have been sent out to Rahim Yar Khan district today.
Dr. Waseem Shaukat DVM (UVAS), RVMP (Pak)
drwaseemshaukat@yahoo.com
