LUMPY SKIN DISEASE: OVER 57K ANIMALS DEAD, CAN NEW VIRUS SPREAD TO HUMANS?
New Delhi, India
The Centre has advised states to make efforts on the ground-level to isolate animals and prevent the disease from spreading. (Representative image/PTI)
LSD is caused by lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), a virus from the family Poxviridae, genus Capripoxvirus, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) says
Nearly 57,000 cattle have died across the country due to the lumpy skin disease (LSD), a viral infection that affects cattle and is highly contagious, the Centre said on Thursday. Till now, the outbreak has affected over 15.21 lakh cattle. Cases have been reported from at least seven states including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi.
The Centre has advised states to make efforts on the ground-level to isolate animals and prevent the disease from spreading. The infection is rapidly spreading in Rajasthan and Gujarat where state governments have created control rooms in districts to monitor and indulge in effective prevention strategies. In August alone, over 3,000 cattle died in these two states due to the viral infection.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot wrote to the Centre, demanding that the lumpy skin disease be declared a national calamity. Gujarat has banned the transport of livestock in 14 affected districts.
What is the lumpy skin disease?
According to the European Food Safety Authority(EFSA), Lumpy skin disease is a viral disease that affects cattle and is transmitted by blood-feeding insects, such as flies and mosquitoes, or ticks.
LSD is caused by lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), a virus from the family Poxviridae, genus Capripoxvirus, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) says.
How does it spread?
The disease can spread rapidly, and the principal means of transmission is believed to be by arthropod vectors, according to WOAH.
Direct contact with an infected animal is considered to play a minor role in the transmission of the virus. It is not known transmission can occur via fomites, for example ingestion of feed and water contaminated with infected saliva, but these routes may be at play.
In terms of animal-to-animal spread, once an animal has recovered from the infection, it is well protected and cannot be the source of infection for other animals. In infected animals that do not show clinical signs, the virus may remain in blood for a few weeks and eventually disappear.
What are the symptoms?
Lumpy skin disease can cause fever, nodules on the skin, discharge from the eyes and nose, reduced milk production and difficulty in eating. In some cases the viral infection can be fatal, especially in animals who have previously not been exposed to the virus. Pregnant cows and buffaloes often suffer miscarriage due to the disease.
Are humans at risk?
No, the disease, according to the WOAH, is not zoonotic, which means it does not spread from animals to humans, and humans cannot catch the viral infection.
Lumpy Skin Disease outbreaks in India
Before the current wave, LSD cases were seen in India in September 2020, when a strain of the virus was discovered in Maharashtra. Cases have also been reported in Gujarat over the last few years, but they haven’t spread at a pace seen currently.
According to WOAH, LSD is endemic in most African countries. Since 2012 it has been spreading rapidly through the Middle East, south-east Europe and West and Central Asia. Since 2019, several outbreaks of LSD have been reported by several Asian countries. Pakistan’s Punjab and Sindh provinces saw over 29,000 cases of LSD, with 765 cattle deaths in Punjab alone, Dawn reported.
What states are experiencing a high number of LSD cases?
Rajasthan: State Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Lalchand Kataria said that around 8 lakh cows in Rajasthan have been infected, of which at least 7.40 lakh have undergone treatment. The rate of infection is decreasing rapidly in western Rajasthan, Kataria said, adding that the state continues to monitor the situation to contain the outbreak.
According to the Animal Husbandry Department, till now 34,243 cattle have died due to the disease in the state. Chief Minister Gehlot assured that there is no shortage of medicines to deal with the problem. He also highlighted that the dead animals are being disposed of in a scientific manner so that the infection does not spread, PTI reported.
Uttar Pradesh: LSD is rapidly making its way into the western parts of the state, as nearly 200 cattle deaths have been reported from 2,331 villages. The state Animal Husbandry Department is preparing to create a 300-km-long “immune belt” to control the spread of the virus in other parts of the state. The disease has spread to 23 districts so far with the highest number of cases in Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur.
What is the Centre’s advisory to curb its spread?
Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri Parshottam Rupala held a review meeting on the disease in August to check the availability of vaccines and arrangements being made by the state governments for its prevention.
The Centre has advised ring vaccination in districts where animals are already infected with Lumpy skin disease, so that the spread of this disease is stopped in other areas.
There is a need to make efforts at the ground level by isolating the animals suffering from the disease and only then can other animals be kept safe from the disease.
The Centre also directed the state to prevent further spread of the disease through biosecurity, regulating movement of animals and ring vaccination.
It emphasised on creating isolation facilities for sick animals. The use of herbal and homoeopathic medicine for sick animals was also encouraged.
What about vaccination?
Till now, at least 97 lakh vaccine doses against lumpy skin disease have been administered so far. Out of these, nearly 8 lakh cattle have recovered from the viral infection, the Centre has said. The goat pox vaccine, currently used to treat the disease, is “100 percent effective,” Rupala said on Thursday. A toll-free helpline (1962) has also been created to guide cattle-herders and dairy farmers in fighting the viral disease.
Source:News18
