Lumpy skin disease spreads to about 25,000 bovines in Rajasthan
- With the lumpy skin disease spreading fast among bovines in western and northern Rajasthan, cattle-rearers in the State are suffering heavy losses.
- The infection has spread to about 25,000 cattle in the last couple of months and resulted in the death of more than 1,200 animals.
What is lumpy skin disease?
- Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a viral disease that infects cows and buffaloes.
- Although, the disease has relatively low mortality rate, it can create animal welfare issues and can lead to production losses.
- A vector-borne disease, it spreads through insects like certain species of flies, mosquitoes and even ticks.
- LSD can also spread via contaminated equipment and in some cases through animal-to-animal contact.
- The disease does not pose a risk to humans.
Other Dimensions
- Symptoms
- Fever,
- Nodules on the skin that can also lead to death.
- Discovery
- LSD was first discovered in Africa in 1929.
- For a long time, it remained confined in the country but in recent times LSD has spread beyond the territories of Africa.
- In 2015, it was found in Turkey and Greece.
- Treatment
- Vaccination drives in southern European countries have effectively controlled the outbreak of LSD but in other areas the success rate of vaccines has not been impressive.
- The Gujarat government has recently started vaccinating cattle against LSD.
- Economic repercussions
- The economic implications of the disease can be severe due to its high morbidity rate.
- Herders can face significant losses due to infertility in male and female cows, weight loss, drop in milk production and abortions that are the caused by the disease.