Govt releases guidelines to control spread of Lumpy skin disease

BENGALURU: The Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services (AHVS) has released guidelines to control and prevent Lumpy skin disease in cattle.

The disease in cattle is increasing and farmers are worried about the situation. In Karnataka, 28 districts and around 40,000 heads of cattle have been affected by the disease. In the past week, 2,070 heads of cattle succumbed to Lumpy skin disease.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and officials of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services held a meeting and discussed appropriate measures to control the disease. In many districts,  the AHVS department is conducting programmes to vaccinate cattle for disease control.

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services released guidelines to prevent and control Lumpy skin diseases in cattle.

The following guidelines were released by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services to prevent and control lumpy skin diseases.

1. More attention should be paid to the border districts of Karnataka near Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana for cattle vaccinations, and it should given to the cattle on a priority basis in villages.

2. To control mosquitoes that fly near the cattle that spread diseases.

3. Cattle should not be brought to the state from disease-spread states like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

4. Cattle festivals, cattle markets, cattle transport and cattle fairs are completely banned until the disease is under control.

5. All Goshalas in the state should first vaccinate the cattle.

6. If a cow dies from disease, post-mortem examination is mandatory, and burial should be done scientifically.

7.Twenty-one days are required to develop immunity against the disease after vaccination of the cattle, and farmers should follow it compulsorily.

8. Farmers should apply hemp oil, neem oil and boric powder to the infected cattle and should be careful about mosquitoes and flies.

Lumpy skin disease in cattle.

What is Lumpy skin disease?

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a viral disease caused by the Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) of the genus Capripoxvirus belonging to the family Poxviridae. The disease mainly affects cows and water buffaloes. The disease cannot spread to humans.