In News
- More than 1,500 animals, mainly cows and buffaloes, have died in Gujarat due to the infectious lumpy skin disease, which has spread in 14 districts of the State.
About 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 within the genus capripoxvirus, the other two species being Sheeppox virus and Goatpox virus.
- Due to its infectious nature and its implications on the economy, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) declares it as a notifiable disease.
- Symptoms
- It appears as nodules of two to five-centimetre diameter all over the body, particularly around the head, neck, limbs, udder and genitals.
- The lumps gradually open up like large and deep wounds.
- Transmission
- The LSD virus easily spreads by blood-sucking insects like mosquitoes, flies and ticks and through saliva and contaminated water and food.
- Spread
- Historically, LSD has remained confined to Africa, where it was first discovered in 1929, and parts of West Asia.
- LSD was first reported in Asia and the Pacific region in 2019 in north west China, Bangladesh and India.
- Treatment
- No treatment is available for the disease.
Source:TH
