Lumpy Disease | Causes | Spread | Symptoms

 Lumpy Skin Disease

Have you seen infected and dead cows and cattle everywhere in the news and media these days? We all feel sorry for these selfless animals. Are you wondering what is going on? Let me inform you about all of these. In today’s article we are going to discuss about the disease which is hampering cow and cattle health.

Cows and cattle have been our friends for so long. Ever since agricultural practices have developed, these animals have helped us evolve for the better and better. They help us in working in fields to provide us with nutritive milk. Our history and religion also praise the presence of cows in human life. According to the Indian tale of ‘samudra manthan’,  in which all deities and demons churned the ocean to find, receive elixir, certain things came out which were boon to the earth. One of those things was a cow, in the story it is named as ‘kaamdhenu’ which translates to animal which will provide you with everything you wish for. And literally, cow blesses us with food, health nutrition as well as it’s excretory products are also beneficial. This cow and other cattle such as buffalo, bullock etc, are in a condition of threat currently.

Cows and cattle have been found to be catching up disease which is called Lumpy Skin Disease. This disease is putting them in so much pain. In India, many cows and cattle are dying because of this disease. We will understand in detail about Lumpy Skin Disease in this article. Do give it a read.

What causes Lumpy Skin Disease?

Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) is found to be caused by a virus. It is commonly called Lumpy Skin Disease Virus (LSDV). In scientific language, it is known as Capripox virus. This virus is the causative agent of the lumpy Skin Disease found in cattle and buffaloes. This virus is an emerging threat to livestock worldwide.

The Capripox virus or Lumpy Skin Disease Virus is a quite old virus. The very first case of this was registered back in 1929 in Zambia. First it was ignored as they thought the lumps on the skin were because of some insect bites, but when cows started to die people took it seriously. Towards the end of World War 2, lumpy Skin Disease caused a large number of deaths of livestock in Africa. Recent cases of LSD were seen in Bangladesh in 2019. But this year in May,2022 first case of LSD was registered in India in Kutch, Gujarat. Since then, lacs of cows have been infected and diseased by this infection in whole country.

How is Lumpy Skin Disease spread?

The Lumpy Skin Disease Virus is spread through infected blood. So there are three ways this disease is spread:

Blood feeding insects: insects like mosquito, biting houseflies, lice etc. If these insects sit on an infected animal, blood will be sucked by them. Along with the blood feed, viruses will also enter the body of the insect. So next time they bite any other cow or cattle, the virus will be pierced into that animal. And thus the virus would spread.

Direct spread: When large numbers of cattle are living together under one shed, there are high chances that the virus gets spread directly without any vector (here, insects). The wounds of infected animals can spread this virus into surrounding cattle.

Dead animal: If the cattle, who were infected with the LSD virus, die, and if the dead body is not treated in proper ways, the virus would spread in the surrounding soil and air. This can cause infection in cattle nearby.

Symptoms of Lumpy Skin Disease

After the entry of the virus into the animal’s body, it generally takes 4 to 14 days for symptoms to appear. This is called as incubation period, where the animal is infected but is symptomless.

• The most common symptom of lumpy Skin Disease is circular and firm hard nodes on the hide and/or skin of the animal. These nodes are commonly termed as lumps, and hence the disease got its name Lumpy Skin Disease. 
• Cattle also start losing weight suddenly after the infection begins.
• Milk production is also seen to be reduced during this disease.
• Development of fever is also observed in infected animals.
• The eyes of cattle get watery; this gives us a view that animal is crying in pain. Apart from that,nasal and salivary secretion is also increased.
• Pregnant cows and buffaloes, if infected by LSD virus, majorly undergo miscarriage. The baby dies prematurely in the womb because of the infection.

The lumps on the skin tends to grow in size. After a while, they tend to get filled with pus. This stage is very painful for the animal. If the cow or cattle is untreated, the lumps break out and make open wounds on the skin. These open wounds can cause secondary bacterial infection. This can cause septic death to the cattle. 

Veterinary doctors should be contacted as soon as any of these symptoms are observed on the cattle. Earlier detection can be helpful in treatment because the spread of the virus can be spread. 

In this article we got information about Lumpy Skin Disease and its spread. I hope this information will be spread by you to whoever needs this. In the next article, we will be giving you details about ways of prevention and control of this deadly disease. If you have any queries or questions, don’t hesitate to write us in the comment section below.

Thank you for reading!

Stay healthy! Stay happy!

Urvi Bhanushali
Manish Mevada