From social media to some news reports, videos of cows and other cattle are going viral, which show giant pimples like structures on the skin of these cows and various other symptoms. Actually, this is called “lumpy skin disease. It is an infectious viral disease spreading among cattle, deadlier than the earlier outrage in the world, which is the Corona Virus among humans, because presently its death rate in India is 15%, particularly in Rajasthan. The virus of this disease is lumpy skin disease virus and it belongs to genus capripoxvirus and its family is poxviridae, whose smallpox and monkeypox are also members of this family.
Its immune response is similar to that of sheeppox virus and goatpox virus. It is noteworthy that the Joint Director of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) told PTI that milk from cows with Lumpy Skin Disease is safe to ingest because it is a non-zoonotic illness.
“It is safe to consume milk from the infected cattle. There is no problem in the quality of milk even if you have it after boiling or without boiling,” Mr. Mohanty said.
It usually affects cows and water buffaloes. It is spread by vectors like ticks, mosquitoes, and biting flies, which mark this disease as a contagious disease, according to The Hindu.
What are the major symptoms of LSD?
- Decreased Milk production.
- Animals may develop big nodules of 3-5 cm in diameter on skin.
- Weakness
- Infertility and Abortions
- Eye & nose discharge
Lumpy Skin Disease in India
In India, it is spreading day by day in many parts of the country. This outbreak started in some parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan around July and after that spread to almost every part of the country. A huge outrage in Rajasthan, where almost 3 in 10 cattle are at risk of death, according to The Hindu. It has been reported that almost 85,000+ cattle have died till now in India due to this deadly virus and also almost 2 million+ cattle have been affected. However, some states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttrakhand, Haryana have incurred losses due to this massive outrage by the end of August.
Now today, as we are nearing the end of September, this deadly disease is spreading in almost every state. Recently, some cases have been reported from Maharashtra, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Jammu & Kashmir, affecting almost thousands of cattle.
According to the J&K administration, 28,619 out of 38,083 affected animals have recovered from lumpy skin disease (LSD).
How can we control this outbreak?
- Stop the movement of bovine animals.
- Quarantine infected cattles.
- Sanitizing sheds.
- Spreading awareness among farmers & stakeholders.
Vaccination: Is there any vaccine for Lumpy Skin Disease?
According to the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, the Goat Pox Virus is highly effective against this deadly virus and is now used in almost every state. Till now, 97 lakh doses have been administered. Vaccination drives have been started in some parts of the country.
What should the Government of India do?
The government of India should start vaccination drives rapidly as we have to stop this outrage and provide some sort of relief package to farmers who lost their cattle. Many farmers are directly dependent on these cattle by selling milk.
Till now, the government is silent and many political leaders are accusing the central government of not giving any relief package to farmers. Some demanded Rs 30,000-40,000 compensation for dead cattle.
Ifhaam Jigar Dar is a staff reporter covering Education news for The Chenab Times.