Centre pushes vaccine for lumpy skin disease

Centre pushes vaccine for lumpy skin disease

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Health 

Concept :

• More than 10,000 cattle have been infected with the Lumpy Skin disease in this wave of the epidemic.
• Uttarakhand has reported the bulk of the cases in this wave. While the Kutch region of Gujarat emerged as the epicenter of the Lumpy Skin disease outbreak last year.
• Government launched a massive vaccination drive to control the epidemic in cattle.
• About nine crore cattle have been vaccinated so far, and the recovery rate is above 94%.

Lumpy Skin Disease

• LSD is caused by infection of cattle or water buffalo with the Capri poxvirus Lumpy Skin Disease Virus (LSDV).
• It is genetically related to the goatpox and sheeppox virus family.
• Lumpy skin disease was first seen as an epidemic in Zambia in 1929. Initially, it was thought to be the result of either poisoning or hypersensitivity to insect bites.
• According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the mortality rate is less than 10%.
• Transmission:
• Lumpy skin disease is primarily spread between animals by biting insects (vectors), such as mosquitoes and biting flies.
• Symptoms:
• It primarily consists of fever, fluid excretion from eyes and nose, dribbling of saliva from the mouth and blisters on the body.
• The animal stops eating and faces problems while chewing or eating, resulting in reduced milk production.
• Prevention and Treatment:
• Vaccination against these diseases is covered under the Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme of India.
• There are no specific antiviral drugs available for the treatment of lumpy skin disease. The only treatment available is supportive care of cattle. This can include treatment of skin lesions using wound care sprays and the use of antibiotics to prevent secondary skin infections and pneumonia.
• Anti-inflammatory painkillers can be used to keep up the appetite of affected animals.
• Lumpi-ProVacInd :
• Lumpi-ProVacInd is a live attenuated vaccine developed jointly by ICAR’s National Research Centre on Equines and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, which is targeted to protect cattle against the LSD virus, and provides 100% protection.