Lumpy Skin Disease

In  Context 

• Some 1,229 cattle across five districts of Gujarat have been infected with Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD), an infectious viral disease, in the past one month.

Lumpy Skin Disease

• About:
  • It is caused by infection of cattle or buffalo with the poxvirus Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV).
  • The virus is one of three closely related species within the genus capripoxvirus, 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 and genitals.
  • The lumps gradually open up like large and deep wounds.
• Transmission:
  • The LSD virus easily spreads by blood-sucking insects like mosquitoes, flies and ticks and through saliva and contaminated water and food.
• Spread: 
  • Historically, LSD has remained confined to Africa, where it was first discovered in 1929, and parts of West Asia.
  • LSD was first reported in Asia and the Pacific region in 2019 in north west China, Bangladesh and India. 

• Treatment: 
  • No treatment is available for the disease so prevention by vaccination is the most effective means of control.

Concerns

• In India, which has the world’s highest 303 million heads of cattle, the disease has spread to 15 states within just 16 months.
• This might have a devastating impact on the country, where most dairy farmers are either landless or marginal landholders and milk is among the cheapest protein sources.

Source:DTE