BENGALURU: The dreaded lumpy skin disease (LSD), which has killed more than two lakh cattle in India since 2020, can now be completely prevented by a new homologous vaccine developed indigenously by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh and National Research Centre on Equines (NRCE), Hisar, Haryana.
Dr BR Gulati, Director, National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (NIVEDI), told The New Indian Express, that the homologous vaccine, which uses the same virus which causes the LSD “will provide 100 per cent protection against the virus. Two veterinary vaccine makers — Biovet Pvt Ltd, Malur, Karnataka and Hester Biosciences Ltd, Ahmedabad, Gujarat — have signed a commercial agreement for manufacture and supply of the vaccine. Biovet has submitted the test batches of the vaccine to IVRI for testing. The vaccine will be out in the market once approved.”
The LSD virus is a pox virus that belongs to the same genus as sheep pox and goat pox viruses. Presently, the goat pox vaccine is being given to cattle as prevention against LSD. “Goat pox is a heterologous vaccine. It provides 70 to 80 per cent protection against the disease,” said Gulati.
Karnataka logged over 3 lakh cases of lumpy skin disease till Jan 13
As of January 13, more than 3,10,000 cases of lumpy skin disease have been reported in Karnataka. The virus has claimed the lives of 27,000 cattle in the state. “LSD is not a zoonotic disease, but milk of affected animals or from the affected area should be boiled for human consumption,” said the chief veterinary scientist.
The virus spreads through direct contact and vectors like mosquitoes, flies and ticks as well as through saliva and contaminated water and food. In India, states like Rajasthan and Gujarat reported a high mortality rate up to 10 per cent last year. Mass vaccination is the only way to control the spread of the virus.
The symptoms are characterised by high fever followed by nodules that appear all over the body of the animal. The infection spreads to the lungs and the animal develops pneumonia-like symptoms, which is the main cause of death of the diseased animal.
The LSD virus, which first appeared in the African continent in 2017-18, travelled to China and Mongolia before surfacing in India in Odisha in 2019. Given the seriousness of the disease and the havoc it has unleashed on cattle, farmers and agrarian economy in the country, NIVEDI is organising a one-day national workshop on LSD on January 27.
Veterinary scientists and animal husbandry experts from across India will participate in the discussions on the action plan to control LSD. Deputy Director General (Animal Science), ICAR, Dr Bhupendra Nath Tripathi will be the chief guest at the national workshop.