LUMPY SKIN DISEASE - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
News:
Punjab government airlifts vaccine doses for lumpy skin disease
What's in the news?
● The
Punjab government has airlifted 25 lakh doses of goat pox vaccines for the
prevention of lumpy skin disease in cattle.
Lumpy Skin Disease:
● According
to a report by GAVI (the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization), the
lumpy skin disease is “an emerging
threat to livestock worldwide”.
● It
is caused by a virus called the Capripoxvirus.
● It
is genetically related to the goatpox
and sheeppox virus family.
Transmission:
● LSD
infects cattle and water buffalo mainly through vectors such as blood-feeding insects such as ticks and mites such as
house flies and mosquitoes.
● It
can also spread through contaminated water, feed, and fodder.
Symptoms:
The
symptoms include
● The
appearance of circular, firm nodes on the animal’s hide or skin that look
similar to lumps.
● LSDV
attacks an animal’s circulatory system,
causing inflammation of blood vessels and lesions in various organs such as the
liver, lungs, spleen, lymph nodes, and so on.
● As
a result, it causes epidermis, which leads to the formation of lumps or nodules
on the body of an animal. Fever, increased mucus secretion, loss of appetite,
and other symptoms may also occur.
● The
combination of the factors may result in organ failure and, eventually, death.
● When
cow's symptoms worsen, they stop producing milk, and pregnant cows miscarry.
● Recently,
several Indian states, including Gujarat and Rajasthan, have been dealing with
an outbreak of LSD.
Is it the first outbreak in India?
● This
is not the first time LSD has been detected in India.
● The
disease has been endemic in most African
countries, and since 2012 it has spread rapidly through the Middle East, Southeast
Europe and West and Central Asia.
Is there any risk for humans?
● The
disease is not zoonotic and does not
spread from animals to humans, and humans cannot get infected with it.
● While
the virus does not spread to humans, “milk produced by an infected animal will
be fit for human consumption after boiling or pasteurization as these processes
will kill the viruses in the milk.