Throughout this week, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary (AH&Vety) Department, Lawngtlai organised free vaccination of livestock at various localities within Lawngtlai town. The free vaccination was an initiative under the National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP) in which vaccine against foot and mouth disease (FMD) had been administered to 2013 numbers of livestock.

NADCP is a central programme that aims to control FMD and brucellosis by 2025, and to eradicate them by 2030 through vaccination of livestock.

Foot and mouth disease is a highly infectious viral disease of cattle, swine, sheep, goats, and other cloven-hooved ruminants. It can result in a drastically reduced production of milk and can be financially ruinous for dairy farmers. Brucellosis causes early abortions in animals, and prevents the addition of new calves to the animal population.