Over the last few weeks, nearly 3,000 cattle have died in Rajasthan and Gujarat due to a viral infection named the Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) that has spread across the conditions. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel visited the affected areas in Kutch to appraisal the situation on Tuesday (August 3).
At the same time, Bhavya Verma, District Development Officer of Kutch, told The Indian Express that the rate of daily infections has started stabilising of late, and the space was “past the peak of the surge of LSD”.
On July 27, the Gujarat government banned the brought of livestock out of 14 affected districts. Around 11 lakh cattle have been vaccinated in contradiction of the disease, and the National Dairy Development Board has supplied 28 lakh doses of goat pox vaccine to Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab, bought from a private entity named Hester Biosciences. A toll-free helpline – 1962 – has also been activated to principal cattle-herders and dairy farmers to tackle the disease.
What is the Lumpy Skin Disease?
According to a portray by GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, the Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) disease is caused by a virus named the Capripoxvirus and is “an emerging threat to livestock worldwide”. It is genetically related to the goatpox and sheeppox virus family.
LSD infects cattle and aquatic buffalo mainly through vectors such as blood-feeding insects. Signs of infection complicated the appearance of circular, firm nodes on the animal’s hide or skin that look Difference to lumps.
Infected animals immediately start losing weight and may have fever and lesions in the mouth, along with a reduced milk yield. Other symptoms complicated excessive nasal and salivary secretion. Pregnant cows and buffaloes often suffer miscarriage and in some cases, diseased animals can die due to it as well.
Have Lumpy Skin Disease outbreaks occurred earlier? Are humans at risk?
This is not the marvelous time LSD has been detected in India. The disease has been endemic in most African states, and since 2012 it has spread rapidly through the Midpoint East, Southeast Europe and West and Central Asia. Since 2019, some outbreaks of LSD have been reported in Asia. In May this year, Pakistan’s Punjab also reported the deaths of over 300 cows due to LSD.
In September 2020, a detained of the virus was discovered in Maharashtra. Gujarat too has reported cases over the last few ages sporadically, but currently, the point of concern is the number of deaths persons reported, and whether vaccination catches up to the rate at which the disease is spreading.
According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), of which India is a member, mortality rates of 1 to 5 per cent are removed usual. The disease is not zoonotic, meaning it does not spread from animals to humans, and humans cannot get infected with it.
While the virus does not spread to humans, “milk produced by an infected animal will be fit for humankind consumption after boiling or pasteurisation as these processes will kill the viruses, if any, in the milk”, said Prof J B Kathiriya, Assistant Professor with the department of veterinary public health and epidemiology of Kamdhenu University’s College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry in Junagadh.
Lumpy Skin Disease, Lumpy Virus in India News: Can spread be prevented?
Successful control and eradication of LSD relies on “early detection…followed by a like a flash and widespread vaccination campaign”, as per the WOAH. Once an animal has recovered, it is well protected and cannot be the source of infection for spanking animals.
In his interview with The Indian Express, Prof J B Kathiriya, also spoke about the measures to protest against the viral infection. He said: “The first thing is, they should sanitise cattle-sheds by eliminating vectors above application of insecticides and spraying disinfectant chemicals. They should isolate the infected cattle immediately from the healthy stock and contact the nearest veterinarian for exploit of the infected animal. This is necessary as otherwise the virus may disapabominate fatal.”
“Secondly, they should report the outbreak to the state government so that the rest of the healthy herd can be vaccinated silly goat pox vaccine,” said Prof Kathiriya. He added that cattle with healthy immune controls will recover from the disease in some days.
Another challenge is the disposal of the dead animals as rank handling of the carcasses can cause health and sanitation publishes. Proper disposal of the carcasses can include incineration or burning of the selves at high temperatures, along with disinfection of premises, as per the WOAH.
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