DADU: The disease responsible for the mysterious death of more than 30 Sindh Ibex over the past two months has finally been identified as the ‘highly contagious Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR)’ after post-mortem examination of a diseased carcass.

Experts at the Central Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Tandojam and the Sindh Institute of Animal Health Research Laboratory in Karachi discovered the alarming presence of the ailment among Ibex population in the Khirthar National Park.

Dr Om Prakash, a senior research officer at the Tandojam laboratory, told Dawn on Tuesday that there was urgent need of putting in place rigorous vaccination protocols for all animals in the park and taking other stringent measures to contain the spread of the lethal disease.

Dr Nazir Ahmed Kalhoro, director-general of Livestock Sindh and DG of Sindh Institute of Animal Health Karachi, said that the department had taken a number of measures to check Ibex mortality. The steps included vaccination of both wild and domesticated animals in addition to routine vaccination within the affected area, he said.

Experts find highly contagious PPR in one carcass during post-mortem

He confirmed that the presence of the PPR among the Ibex population had now been verified by the two laboratories, and said the symptoms of the disease were depression and anorexia in the beginning, followed by diarrhoea after two or three days, leading to severe dehydration, high fever and eventual death.

He stressed the need for separating domestic and wild animals in order to prevent further casualties among both the groups and warned of potential infections among domestic animals. If they were to mingle with wild animals, the consequences could be dire, he said.

Dr Kalhoro disclosed that the livestock department was chalking out plans to vaccinate all the domestic animals, particularly sheep and goats, within the vicinity of the park. Out of the 24 million sheep and goats in Sindh, the department aimed to vaccinate nine million annually, with five million doses to be provided by the federal government and four million by the provincial government, he said.

He said the PPR vaccine required a 12-month treatment period to effectively check the disease among the Ibex and other animals.

Wildlife expert Dr Aftab Ahmed Bhand underscored significance of Khirthar National Park, which sprawled over 700,000 acres in Jamshoro and Malir districts. It provided habitat to a diverse array of over 500 wildlife species, he said.

Dr Bhand lamented that current measures had proven inadequate to stem the tide of the disease and emphasised the need for comprehensive preventive measures to safeguard wild animals in the park.

Wajid Shaikh, deputy conservationist of the wildlife department in Hyderabad, identified the affected area as ‘Bambh Jo Seer’ in the Khirthar Range. The age of the deceased Ibex ranged from two to 10 years, with all fatalities having occurred in close proximity of a natural spring, which developed rainwater storage that contaminated over the past four months, he said.

He said that the post-mortem examination of a two-year-old Ibex was conducted on-site and its organ samples were dispatched to the laboratories in Tandojam and Karachi which helped identify the disease conclusively.

The disease had killed over 40 animals in the park in 2016.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2023