Observations on cattle dairy breeds in Pakistan; need to curb unseen economic losses through control of mastitis and endemic diseases

In October 2005 a devastating earthquake caused extensive damage among populations in Pakistan administered Kashmiri Region and parts of North Western Frontier. In addition to the loss of more than 87`000 human lives and 70`000 injured, many livestock namely buffaloes, cattle and goats were lost. This eroded the livelihoods of families that solely relied on livestock and agriculture for their economic survival. The International Committee of the Red Cross together with the German Red Cross (ICRC/ GRC) and the Kashmiri authorities formulated a project that sought to restore the livelihoods of the most vulnerable households to a level comparable to before the earthquake. The project adapted an agro-vet and micro-economic approach, part of which included the provision of a milking cow and calf. This report indicates that antibiotics and homoeopathic medicines provide similar levels of protection against mastitis (Spranger, 2000). Preventive measures like vaccinations, disinfectant footbaths and reducing stress during the critical time of calving goes a long way towards improving the overall health of the dairy cows (Dettloff, 2005). Although milking is in many cases still done by hand, pre-milking and post-milking hygienic procedures, such as udder washing and drying greatly decrease prevalence of mastitis.