PESHAWAR, Oct 14: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has mobilised human and financial resources to prevent CrimeanCongo haemorrhagic fever outbreak after reports of the dangerous tick`s presence in cattle, according to officials.

Putting its act together in a belated move to avert the viral disease as a result of the mass scale slaughter of animals during the upcoming Eidul Azha, the provincial government`s agencies, according to officials, have introduced precautionary measures to prevent the CCHF outbreak.

`Veterinary teams have been mobilised in all the 25 districts of the province to spray animals brought to cattle markets,` said a veterinary doctor of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Directorate of Livestock and Dairy Development.

He said the veterinary staff had been deputed at all the officially set up cattle markets to spray animals to check the presence of the insect.

However, the directorate`s effort would not cover a large number of cattle markets that have sprung without official patronage in different parts of the province. This means a large number of animals to be slaughtered on the eid days might carry the potential risk of causing CCHF.

The danger of the likely spread of CCHF was voiced at during the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly`s recently concluded session.

Drawing the provincial authorities` concerned attention, Dr Meher Taj Roghani, special assistant to the provincial chief minister, had asked for a concerted effort to mobilise public opinion for taking preventive measures to prevent the outbreak.

She had said that her colleagues from among the doctors community had informed her that the government should take measures on emergency basis and inform the masses to adopt precautionary measures while slaughtering animals on the impending eid.

She had informed the House that caution was necessary after the death of two CCHF affected patients in the province.

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority published public awareness advertisements in newspapers on Monday emphasising the need for butchers and members of the general public to exercise caution while slaughtering animals.

Lateef Khan, a PDMA spokesman, when contacted, said the authority mobilised `stakeholders` from among the official entities concerned at the district level to deal with any emergency. He said the chief secretary had directed the PDMA to coordinate with all the districts to keep a close watch on the reported presence of the dangerous insect in animals.

`PDMA has been directed to provide funds in case of CCHF case(s) in any district,` said Mr Khan, while referring to instructions issued by the top bureaucrat of the province.

He said the advertisement published on Monday had originally been requested only by the administration of district Swat.

PDMA, said Mr Khan, had contacted the provincial health department to make arrangements for countering CCHF cases if reported from any district.

The veterinarian told Dawn that the directorate of livestock and dairy development had mobilised funds from within its available financial resources to administer spray to animals brought at cattle markets. `The spray would, at least, break the cycle of tick-borne disease in the infected animals,` said the vet. He said the sprayed animals would be prone to transmit the virus to humans.

He, however, said the directorate had moved a summary to the provincial government for financing the directorate`s campaign to conduct a province wide anti-Congo fever campaign to check the prevalence of the tick-borne disease in cattle.

The directorate, he added, mobilised funds from its annual budget to spray the animals brought at the authorised cattle markets.