Farmers speak out about compensation for 550 dairy cows dying after vaccination

Ms. Phan Thi Thu (52 years old, living in Bong Lai village, Hiep Thanh commune, Duc Trong, Lam Dong ) said that her family raised 24 dairy cows. After being vaccinated against lumpy skin disease in July, the entire herd suffered from diarrhea. Among them, 1 mother cow that was being milked died, and 1 cow had a 7-month-old miscarriage.

"The dead mother cow weighed about 700kg. If the compensation price of the pharmaceutical company is 70,000 VND/kg, the family will only receive 35 million VND, only 50% of the value of the damaged mother cow.

With that compensation, my family cannot buy a mother cow to continue milking. Currently, mother cows are sold for more than 80 million VND/cow," Ms. Thu shared.

A household's dairy cow suffered from poor health after being vaccinated against lumpy skin disease (Photo: Minh Hau).

Mr. Nguyen Duy Thanh's family in Bong Lai village, Hiep Thanh commune has 26/30 dairy cows infected with disease and diarrhea. Up to now, 3 milking cows have died, causing a loss of about 240 million VND.

Mr. Thanh said that before the 3 cows got sick and died, his family harvested 20-25kg of milk per cow per day, with an average milk price of 15,000 VND/kg. The 3 cows that died weighed about 600kg each. If the drug company applied a compensation price of 70,000 VND/kg, his family would only receive 126 million VND.

According to Mr. Thanh, with 126 million VND, buying back 3 mother cows at the milking stage is impossible.

He said: "The compensation cannot compensate for the damage. Currently, some households sell milk cows for 60-65 million VND, but most of them have been vaccinated and infected, so we do not dare to buy them."

According to the people, with the compensation price offered by the drug company, they can only buy calves for production. The price of a calf is about 10 million VND/calf but it needs to be cared for for another 2 years before it can be exploited for milk.

Mr. Pham Phi Long, Head of the Department of Livestock, Veterinary and Aquatic Products of Lam Dong province, said that during a meeting with the people and the authorities of Lam Dong province, a representative of the Central Veterinary Medicine Joint Stock Company Navetco (Navetco), the supplier of the Navet-LpVac lumpy skin disease vaccine, offered compensation but the price was low so the people did not agree.

Nguyen Duy Thanh's family's dairy cows are skinny and weak due to infection after vaccination (Photo: Minh Hau).

Accordingly, Navetco offers compensation of 55,000 VND/kg of live cattle; 60,000 VND/kg of pregnant cattle; 65,000 VND/kg of non-pregnant breeding cattle and 70,000 VND/kg for pregnant breeding cattle; dead cows are handled by the farmer themselves, with confirmation from local authorities, with support of 7-10 million VND/cow.

Navetco also offers support for treatment costs and damages of 1-6 million VND/cow for sick dairy cows. The time for calculating compensation is determined from the date of the first case to September 26.

Regarding the compensation agreement, Mr. Nguyen Duy Thanh said: "We have asked the drug company to increase the compensation for non-pregnant cows to 100,000 VND/kg; pregnant cows to 110,000 VND/kg; and breeding cows to 120,000 VND/kg."

Mr. Pham Phi Long said that Lam Dong province authorities have asked Navetco to review and adjust the price appropriately and compensate the people soon.

From July 22 to 31, buffalo and cows in Lam Dong were vaccinated against lumpy skin disease. About 31,000 doses were completed, of which 10,000 doses were administered to dairy cows.

According to local people, 7-10 days after the injection, dairy cows showed signs of weakness, stopped eating, coughed, foamed at the mouth, had bloody diarrhea and died. Currently, 550 dairy cows in Lam Dong have died.

The Department of Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development concluded that the cause of diarrhea in dairy cows was infection with Pestivirus tauri (BVDV type 2) after vaccination with Navet-LpVac vaccine of the Central Veterinary Medicine Joint Stock Company (Navetco).

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/nong-dan-len-tieng-ve-gia-boi-thuong-vu-550-bo-sua-chet-sau-tiem-vaccine-230560.html