Lumpy Skin Disease

Lumpy Skin Disease

Subject : Science and Technology

Section: Biology

Context: Cattle herders in western Rajasthan have suffered heavy losses due to an outbreak of the contagious Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD). Hundreds of cattle have died from infection, according to data from the state animal husbandary department. The state’s dairy sector has also been badly affected.

• Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) has been infecting India’s bovines.
• The LSD is caused by infection of cattle or water buffalo with the poxvirus Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV).
• The virus is one of three closely related species within the genus capripox virus, the other two species being Sheeppox virus and Goatpox virus.
• Symptoms – It appears as nodules of two to five centimetre diameter all over the body, particularly around the head, neck, limbs, udder (mammary gland of female cattle) and genitals.
  • Other clinical signs include general malaise, ocular and nasal discharge, fever, and sudden decrease in milk production.
• According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) the mortality rate is less than 10%.
• Vectors – it spreads through mosquitoes, flies and ticks and also through saliva and contaminated water and food.
• Control and prevention of lumpy skin disease relies on four tactics – movement control (quarantine), vaccination, slaughter campaigns and management strategies.
• There is no treatment for the virus, so prevention by vaccination is the most effective means of control.
• Secondary infections in the skin may be treated with Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatories (NSAIDs) and also antibiotics when appropriate.
• Global Spread:
• LSD is endemic to Africa and parts of West Asia, where it was first discovered in 1929.
• In Southeast Asia the first case of LSD was reported in Bangladesh in July 2019.
• In India, which has the world’s highest 303 million heads of cattle, the disease has spread to 15 states within just 16 months.
  • In India it was first reported from Mayurbhanj, Odisha in August 2019.