Lumpy skin disease kills 1,500 cattle in Gujarat

Tags: State News

More than 1,500 animals, mainly cows and buffaloes, have died in Gujarat due to the infectious lumpy skin disease, which has spread to 14 districts of the state.

What is Lumpy Skin Disease?

• 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 of the genus Capripoxavirus.

• The other two species are Sheeppox virus and Goatpox virus.

• Due to its infectious nature and its impact on the economy, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has declared it a notable disease.

Symptoms of disease

• The main symptoms are fever in animals, discharge from eyes and nose, saliva from the mouth, lump-like soft blisters all over the body, decreased milk production, difficulty in eating, which sometimes leads to the death of the cattles.

Transmission of disease

• The virus is easily transmitted through blood-sucking insects such as mosquitoes, flies and ticks, and through saliva and contaminated water and food.

• The virus was first reported in Asia and the Pacific region in 2019 in north west China, Bangladesh and India.

• There is no treatment available for the disease.