Lumpy Skin Disease
Viral skin disease in cattle
Disease
Learn in detail about Viral skin disease in cattle — causes, symptoms, prevention, and treatment.
13 readers 2 min read
Shobar Khamar
Cause
LSD is a viral skin disease caused by the Lumpy Skin Disease Virus (LSDV), which belongs to the Capripox Virus genus. It primarily spreads through blood-sucking insects (mosquitoes, flies, ticks, mites) from one animal to another. It can also spread through saliva, milk, nasal discharge, and semen of infected animals.
Symptoms
- Fever of 104°F–105°F with loss of appetite
- Nasal and oral discharge along with fever
- Swelling of lymph nodes under the skin
- Nodules or lumps appear on the skin; hair falls off and wounds form
- Watery eyes, redness, corneal cloudiness
- Wounds in mouth and feet; difficulty walking and eating
- Animal becomes progressively weak with nutritional deficiencies
- Severe reduction in milk production, miscarriage, significant weight loss
- Death rate (Mortality) can be controlled with good farm management
Immediate Treatment
- If nodules have burst — clean with Povisep solution or Iodine mixture
- If nodules have not burst — apply Povisep solution or Iodine on the surface like paint
- Provide plenty of water and sugar-water / molasses solution to drink
- Give mineral supplements: Ferrous Sulphate, Copper Sulphate, Cobalt mixture, Zinc mixture
- Administer Vitamin-B injection, Antihistamine, Painkiller (Analgesic), Antipyretic
- Use antibiotics if necessary
Prevention
- Use LSD vaccine or Sheep Pox / Goat Pox vaccine (at 3–10× higher dose as advised by researchers)
- Control movement of infected animals to prevent further spread
- Keep farm and surroundings clean to control mosquitoes, flies, and ticks
- Use mosquito nets in cattle sheds to prevent LSD and other vector-borne diseases
- Quarantine infected animals and treat separately
- Properly dispose of leftover feed of infected animals away from healthy ones
- Restrict general public access to the farm; do not take animals to grazing fields until recovered
Vaccines / Medicines
- BOVIVAX LSD-N (LSD Neethling strain)
- Lumpyvax (LSD SIS Neethling type strain)
- LumpyShield-N (LSD Neethling strain)
- MEVAC LSD (LSD Neethling strain)
- Lumpivax (Live attenuated LSDV)
- Lumpyvac (LSD Neethling strain)
- LSD-NDOLL (LSD Neethling strain)
