Lumpy Skin Disease: Govt to Use Immune Belt, a Malaysian Model, to Check Virus

In order to reduce the lumpy virus disease among animals in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government has created a 300-km long and 10-km wide "immune belt" between Pilibhit and Etawah, running through 23 blocks of five districts.

A zone is created using the immunological belt to stop the transmission of viruses. This belt will run through the development blocks of Pilibhit's Bisalpur, Barkheda, Lalorikheda, Marauri, and Amaria districts as well as Shahjahanpur's Khudaganj, Nigohi, Sidhauli, Bhawal Kheda, Kant, Jalalabad, and Mirzapur district and Farrukhabad's Kaimganj, Shamsabad, and Rajepur district. It will reach the development blocks of the Mainpuri district's Kurawali, Sultanganj, and Ghirour as well as the Etawah district's Badhpura, Jaswantnagar, Saifai, Basrehar, and Takha development blocks.

9,834 of the 21,619 cows treated for the lumpy virus have recovered, while 199 have died and impacted cows from 2,331 communities in the state as a whole. The Yogi government is waging a big vaccination effort to fight the deadly virus. So far, vaccinations have been given to more than 5,83,600 cattle.

The department of animal husbandry will establish a special enforcement squad for monitoring activities related to the Immune Belt. According to a press release from the state government, the task force will take care of the tracking and treatment of animals affected by the lumpy virus.

The team will maintain a close eye on infected animals, but there will also be a system in place to keep them contained within the immune belt. 

According to the press release released on Thursday, a similar attempt to avoid animal infection was made earlier in Malaysia in 2020, with extremely favorable results.

In Uttar Pradesh, the virus has spread to 23 different districts. Most instances have been recorded in Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar, and Saharanpur of them. The virus is also fast spreading in Mathura, Bulandshahr, Baghpat, Hapur, Meerut, Shamli, and Bijnor at the same time. The western parts of the state have seen the majority of lumpy virus cases reported. In light of this, the government of Uttar Pradesh has created a plan to cover a 300 km stretch between Pilibhit and Etawah with an immune belt that is 10 km wide.

Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra received a presentation from the animal husbandry department on the government-approved immune belt master plan.

According to data provided by the animal husbandry department, September is seen as a highly sensitive month, thus extra vigilance is being kept about the viral spread in nine divisions of the state.

The department has an abundant supply of vaccinations on hand; more than 32 lakh doses have been delivered, according to the officials. As stated in the press release, preparations are now complete for the administration of up to two lakh vaccinations per day, which will eventually expand to three lakh vaccines per day.

Cattle are vulnerable to the viral disease lumpy skin disease. It is spread by ticks and insects that feed on blood, such as flies and mosquitoes. It might result in the death of the cow and causes fever and skin nodules.