Lumpy Skin Disease (Transboundary Viral Disease)- An Overview and its Ethnoveterinary Treatment
Dr. Jeyapriya.S
Ph.D Scholar, Department of Livestock Products Technology
Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana
Email: priyacharmant@gmail.com
Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a viral disease caused by a virus belonging to Poxviridae family. This virus affects both exotic and indigenous cattle breeds. However, only fewer clinical LSD cases were reported in buffaloes.
The main characteristic of the disease is the presence of large skin nodules covering their entire body of the animal. The affected animal may also show reduced milk production and infertility.
TRANSMISSION:
Biting flies play the most important role in spreading the virus. Infections
increase during the wet summer and autumn months when there are more flies. Calves can be infected by drinking milk from a cow which has the disease. LSD is not a zoonotic disease.
The disease can also spread through the saliva of infected animals when they use the same drinking trough.
ECONOMIC IMPACT:
Up to 45% of your herd can get infected and the mortality(death) rate may reach 10%.The disease causes emaciation (loss of body condition because of unwillingness to eat); temporary or permanent loss of milk production, lowered or complete loss of fertility in bulls and cows, abortion as wells permanent damage to hides (skin).
It causes economic losses to farmers due to reduced productivity and also the ban of export of animals from the affected area.
This disease is highly infectious, hence World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) has recommended the reporting the outbreak of this disease to the public health authorities.
SOURCES OF VIRUS:
Skin nodules, scabs and crusts contain relatively high amounts of LSDV. Virus can be isolated from this material for up to 35 days and likely for longer.
- LSDV can be isolated from saliva, ocular and nasal discharge.
- LSDV is found in the blood (viraemia) intermittently from approximately 7 to 21 days post-infection at lower levels than present in skin nodules.
- Shedding in semen may be prolonged; LSDV has been isolated from the semen of an experimentally infected bull 42 days postinoculation.
- There has been one reported of placental transmission of LSD.
- LSD does not cause chronic disease
PATHOGENESIS:
- Subcutaneous or intradermal inoculation of cattle with LSDV results in the development of a localized swelling at the site of inoculation after 4 to 7 days and enlargement of the regional lymph nodes while generalized eruption of skin nodules usually occurs 7 to 19 days after inoculation.
- Viral replication in pericytes, endothelial cells and probably other cells in blood vessel and lymph vessel walls causes vasculitis and lymphagitis in some vessels in affected areas. In severe cases infarction may result.
- In experimentally infected cattle LSDV was demonstrated in saliva at least for 11 days after the development of fever, in semen for 42 days and in skin nodules for 39 days. Viraemia occurred after the initial febrile reaction and persisted for two weeks.
- Immunity after recovery from natural infection is life-long in most cattle; calves of immune cows acquire maternal antibody and are resistant to clinical disease for about six months.
SYMPTOMS:
Any one or more of the following:
- Skin nodules and ulcers:
– can vary from a few to hundreds
– the size ranges from 0,5–5 cm
– they occur anywhere on the skin, including the nose, udder and vulva in cows, the scrotum in bulls, as well as in the mouth (the gums)
- Legs which become swollen and develop sores.
- Enlarged superficial lymph nodes.
- Pneumonia/coughing as a result of secondary infection of the respiratory tract(the windpipe) and lungs.
- Nasal discharge thick to watery fluid from the nose.
- Infertile bulls due to orchitis (infection of the testes).
- Infertile cows.
- Mastitis which lowers milk production.
- Lachrymation: means (infection of the eye or even blindness).
- Recovery from severe infection is slow due to emaciation.
- Fever that may exceed 41°C,depression,anoroxia,rhinitis,conjunctivitis and excessive salivation.
’DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS:
- Pseudo-lumpy skin disease
- Bovine herpes mammillitis
- Dermatophilosis
- Ringworm
- Insect or tick bites
- Rinderpest
- Demodicosis
- Hypoderma bovis infection
- Photosensitization
- Bovine papular stomatitis
- Urticaria
- Cutaneous tuberculosis
Diagnosis
- Clinical
−Suspect with characteristic skin nodules (“sitfast”), fever and low mortality
- Laboratory Tests
−Virus isolation and identification
−Electron microscopy in combination with history
−Serology, cross reactions with other poxviruses may occur
- Fluorescent antibody
- Serum neutralization
- Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test
Clinical pathology
- Intracellular, eosinophilic inclusion bodies in biopsy material.
Ethno veterinary treatment:
Ethno medicine is practice of using the active compounds in the medicinal plants as treatment for diseases. An effective oral and topical ethno medicine to treat the lumpy skin disease is mentioned here.
Oral treatment for first three days of infection
| Ingredient | Quantity |
| Betel leaves | 10 nos. |
| Black pepper | 10 nos. |
| Crystal salts | 10 grams |
| Jaggery | required volume |
- Grind the above ingredients well, mix them up with jiggery to form a paste.
- Feed the paste to the animal every 3 hours once, for first three days
Oral treatment 3 to 14 days of infection
| Ingredients | Quantity |
| Garlic | 2 nos. |
| Coriander leaves | 15grams |
| Cumin seeds | 15grams |
| Holy basil (thulsi) | 1 hand full |
| Clove leaves | 15grams |
| Black pepper | 15grams |
| Betel leaves | 5nos. |
| Shallots(small onions) | 2nos. |
| Turmeric powder | 10grams |
| Neem leaves | one hand full |
| Jaggery | Required volume |
- Grind the above ingredients well, mix them up with jaggery.
- Feed the paste to the animal at morning, evening and night
Topical treatment for open wound
| Ingredients | Quantity |
| AcalyphaIndica leaves (Kuppi, Kuppaimeni) | One hand full |
| Garlic tooth | 10 nos |
| Neem leaves | One hand full |
| Holy basil (Thulsi) | One hand full |
| Turmeric powder | 10grams |
| Henna leaves | One hand full |
| Coconut oil | 500ml |
- Grind all the above said ingredients and boil them in 500ml coconut oil.
- Cool the contents and apply the oil over the wound after cleaning the wound.An effective and safer traditional treatment using medicine herbs is given for the benefit of farmers to combat the lumpy skin disease in cattle. The medicine can be prepared by the farmers using locally available medicinal herbs and administer to the animal.
There has been very promising result seen in the affected cattle with the treatment of using cocktail of Herbal mixture composed of Haldi, Aloevera gelly,Baking soda, Neem leaves, Betal leaves,Garlic & Peppers.Its coctail after grinding are fed to cattle BID for 14 days.Along with this the affected animals are moped/washed with water (which has been boiled with Neem leaves ,strained & aftet cooling use it to mope the whole body by using cotton cloath twice a week.)
Homeonest Marigold + LSD-25 Kit contains two medicines namely Homeonest V Drops No. 25 for oral administration and Marigold + plus Liquid Antiseptic Spray for External use on skin lesion.Its treatment with application of Homeopathic medicine made by Goel Homeo vet pharma named LSD kit has shown marvellous result in many cases.
INDICATIONS:
- For boosting immunity against LSD and other similar viral diseases.
- Homeopathic Treatment of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in cattle with oral medicinefor enhancing internal Immunity and Healing Spray for treating external wounds.
- ADMINISTRATION of ORAL MEDICINE
- Make sure that medicine touches the tongue of the recipient for faster relief and quick action. Increasing the dose should be avoided; rather decreasing the time interval between successive drug administrations is advisable. Medicine can be given to the animal within an interval of half an hour to one hour or as suggested by the doctor. Different methods of drug administration:
- Method 1:Open the mouth of the animal and drop the medicine directly onto the tongue or into the nostrils so that the animal may lick the medicine.
- Method 2:Spread the medicine on a piece of roti or bread and offer it to the animal to eat, so that medicine is consumed along with the food.
- Note: Do not drench the medicine, let the animal lick the medicine with the tongue while eating or drinking.
- ADMINISTRATION OF EXTERNAL SPRAY MEDICINE
- Hold the spray kit about 2-3 inches away from the affected area and spray the medicine gently. It can be repeated 2-3 times a day until healing of the lesions is observed.
- Marigold+ LSD-25 Kit, is a unique homeopathic formulation for lumpy skindisease in cattle. which means “like cures like”, so is our Marigold+ LSD-25 Kit. Hence, such formulations that cause symptoms like a diseased animal in a healthy one are used to prepare this wonder drug formula to be able to treat lumpy skin disease and its related lesions. It is a formulation that is developed by a renowned Indian veterinarian after consulting many homeopaths and conducting advanced field trials over the years. It has gained the trust of many field veterinarians and livestock farmers.
Livestock farmers are advised not to use antibiotics & other allopathy medication without advice of Registered veterinary practitioners.In this case they may use Homeopathic remedy or Herbal remedy because these remedies don’t have any side effects. Livestock farmers are also advised to report such cases to their nearest Govt.veterinary hospital, as central Govt has already issued advisory regarding this disease to the respective state Animal husbandry department for serum sample collection.
References
Abutarbush SM, Ababneh MM, Al Zoubi OM, Al Sayeb OM, Alekish MO, Al Gharabat RJ (2013). Lumpy skin disease : disease emergence, clinical signs, complications and preliminary associated economic losses. Transbound emergence dis. Oct 21.
Raveesha HR, Sudhama VN (2004). Ethnoveterinary practices in Mallennahalli of chimaglur taluk, Karnataka. Journal of medicinal plants studies,3(1):37-41.
Mishra D(2011), Ethnoveterinary practices and use of herbal medicines for treatment of skin diseases in cattle: A study in Polsara block, Ganjam district, Orissa, India, veterinary world, 4(6):250-253.
