Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) is affecting the animals in Haryana on a large scale, increasing the troubles of people involved in the occupation of animal-keeping. The disease mainly affects cattle. Out of 62.92 lakh bovines (buffalo and cattle) in the state, 19.32 lakh are cattle. The cattle population is at a higher risk of the spread of this disease. The statistics revealed that as many as 6135 cattle are affected in 482 villages in Haryana. Among these, no buffaloes have been affected by the disease so far. It is worth noting that 161 samples for diagnosis were collected and sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) Bhopal lab for testing.Apart from the aforesaid, a total of 23 animals died due to the disease. However, the testing report is yet to be confirmed.
It is worth stating that the last outbreak of lumpy skin disease was reported in Luvas village of Hisar in September 2021, where 60 animals were suspected of having the disease. The disease was confirmed in 12 animals after sampling, and out of the infected animals, one died of the disease. It also came to light that Sirsa is one of the most affected districts by the disease, as a total of 103 villages are affected by the disease in the district. In these villages, 825 animals were affected, of which 276 animals recovered from the disease, while 19 deaths occurred. There are 135 gaushalas in Sirsa district, with 56743 cattle. Out of these gaushalas, 33 are affected, and 400 animals are affected by the disease. Symptoms of the disease may include lesions in the mouth, pharynx, and respiratory tract, emaciation, enlarged lymph nodes, oedema of limbs, reduction in milk production, abortion, infertility and sometimes, death.
JP Dalal, the Agriculture Minister, stated that the Haryana Livestock Development Board has administered 5000 doses of goat pox vaccine in Hisar and that 5 lakh doses of goat pox vaccine have been airlifted to prevent disease, which will be available today.
While reacting to the number of deaths caused by disease, Congress MLA Amit Ji hug said that he is not satisfied with the information provided as the number of deaths is much higher than the expectations and the given statistics. The disease is widely spread in the districts of Haryana adjoining Punjab and Rajasthan, as both states exist as the most affected states in the country. In the wake of this, the Animal Husbandry Department of Haryana has recently issued an advisory stating that no one is allowed to conduct any kind of animal fair or animal gathering so that the disease can be controlled. The officials have been directed to keep a close eye on the infected areas.
The experts divulged the information saying that LSD is a viral disease the virus belongs to the pox family . The diseases are African in origin and prevalent in most African countries that is thought to have originated in Zambia from where its bread to South Africa since 2016 it has spread rapidly through the Middle East South East Europe Russia Kazakhstan the recently out breakup from Bangladesh China Bhutan Nepal and India.
Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an infectious viral disease of cattle and buffaloes caused by the Capripox virus of family Poxviridae. It is transmitted by arthropod vectors such as mosquitoes, biting flies and ticks. The disease is characterised by mild fever for 2-3 days followed by development of stiff, round cutaneous nodules (2- 5 cm in diameter) on the skin all over the body. These nodules are circumscribed, firm, round, raised and involve the skin, subcutaneous tissue and sometimes muscles.