Lumpy skin disease kills nearly 1,000 cows, buffaloes in Gujarat; central team deputed to stop spread

Lumpy skin disease is an infection that affects the skin of cattle. It is spread by mosquitoes, flies, lice, and wasps by direct contact among the cattle, and through contaminated food and water.

New Delhi: The lumpy skin disease (LSD) in Gujarat has killed nearly 1,000 cows and buffaloes and infected about 33,000 cattle, news agency PTI reported on Monday (July 25, 2022). The presence of the disease has also been found in Rajasthan, PTI reported citing Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala. Special teams have been sent by the Centre to Gujarat and Rajasthan to review the situation and measures taken to control LSD.

The Gujarat government on Sunday said that a total of 999 cattle, especially cows and buffaloes, have died in the state due to the disease.

"About 33,000 cattle are infected, and over 900 cattle have died of this disease in Gujarat alone. Its presence has also been found in Rajasthan," PTI quoted Rupala as saying.

A central team has been deputed to Gujarat to control and prevent the spread of the disease, he added.

On steps to prevent the spread of the skin disease in cattle, the minister said currently cattle are being isolated and even vaccination is underway at full speed.

Advisories have also been issued to all states alerting about the disease in cattle, he added.

Lumpy skin disease was first reported in Odisha

The lumpy skin disease was initially reported in Odisha in September 2019. The disease, since then, has been further reported from 22 states and UTs.

The affected states include Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, NCT-Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Rajasthan and recently in Punjab.

Lumpy skin disease affects skin of cattle

The lumpy skin disease is an infection that affects the skin of cattle. It is a viral disease spread by mosquitoes, flies, lice, and wasps by direct contact among the cattle, and through contaminated food and water.

Symptoms of lumpy skin disease 

The main symptoms of the lumpy skin disease are fever in animals, discharge from the eyes and nose, salivation from the mouth, soft blisters like nodules all over the body, reduced milk production, and difficulty in eating, which sometimes lead to the animal's death.

(With agency inputs)