Lumpy Skin Disease: Causes, Symptoms, Prevention and Treatment

A huge population in the country is associated with animal husbandry, in such a situation, a new disease known as lumpy skin disease (LSD) has created havoc for the livestock owners.

Now many of you may be thinking about what exactly is lumpy skin disease, how it is caused, and what is the best treatment for it?

What are the symptoms of lumpy skin disease?

Lumpy skin disease is a viral disease that occurs in cows and buffaloes. The disease causes lumps to form on the body, especially around the head, neck, and genitals. Gradually these lumps start growing and form a wound. The LSD virus is easily transmitted by blood-sucking insects such as mosquitoes and flies. It is also spread through contaminated water, saliva, and feed.

States that have reported cases of Lumpy Skin Disease infection

The disease was first identified in Gujarat and Rajasthan, where thousands of animals died.  Now the disease has spread across states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh.

Lumpy skin disease virus infection was first reported in India in the year 2019 in West Bengal and had spread to more than 15 states by 2021. In the last few years, the disease has spread to animals in many countries like Turkey, Greece, Russia, and Bangladesh.

Is it safe to consume milk from a cow/buffalo affected by Lumpy Skin Disease?

Although no case has been reported so far of infection from animals suffering from lumpy skin disease, still veterinarians are advising everybody to take necessary precautions. Also, you must boil or heat the milk before consuming it.

Prevention from Lumpy Skin Disease infection

• If one animal gets infected, other animals will automatically get infected. This disease spreads through flies, mosquitoes, and feed because animals penetrate from one state to another, due to which this disease spreads easily.

• Sick animals should be kept separate from healthy animals. If the infection is reported in any animal keep it in another place.

• Animals showing symptoms of the disease should not be taken to fairs, markets, and exhibitions.

• Measures should be taken to control the number of pests in the livestock, mainly mosquitoes, flies, fleas and chinch should be properly managed.

• Materials used in the examination and treatment of sick animals should not be thrown in the open. If you see an animal with any unusual symptoms in or near your animal shelter, it should be reported to the nearest veterinary hospital immediately.

• The worker of one cattle shed should not go to another cattle shed, along with this, the animal owners should also pay attention to the cleanliness of their bodies.

Lumpy Skin Disease Vaccine

In a significant development, two institutions of the agricultural research organization ICAR have developed an indigenous vaccination for Lumpy Skin Disease.

A homologous live-attenuated LSD vaccine called Lumpi-ProVacInd was made by the ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE), Hisar (Haryana), in collaboration with the ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh.