Lumpy Skin Disease

• More than 100 cows have died in Meghalaya due to the highly infectious Lumpy Skin Disease and over 8000 animlas have been infected.

ABOUT LUMPY SKIN DISEASE

• LSD is an infectious viral disease mainly affecting cattles.
• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that its mortality rate is less than 10%.
• The first reported outbreak of LSD occurred in Zambia in 1929.
• LSD is primarily spread between animals through the bite of vectors, such as mosquitoes, ticks and flies.
• The primary symptoms of LSD include fever, discharge from the eyes and nose, drooling, and blisters on the skin.
  • Also, affected animals may also lose their appetite and have difficulty in eating, leading to reduced milk production.
• Currently, in India the goat pox vaccine and sheep pox virus vaccines are administered for LSD.
• It’s a heterologous vaccine that offers cross-protection for cattle against the disease.
  • Goat pox, sheep pox and LSD belong to the same capripoxvirus genus.