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Source: The post is based on the article “Centre pushes vaccination as lumpy skin disease ravages cattle again” published in The Hindu on 18th May 2023
What is the News?
Around 10,000 active cases of Lumpy Skin Disease have been detected across four states and a Union territory in the country. Of these, around 2,200 are in Uttarakhand.
What is Lumpy Skin Disease?
Note: It is not a zoonotic virus, meaning the disease cannot spread to humans.
Mortality rate: The morbidity of the disease varies between two to 45% and mortality or rate of death is less than 10%.
Cases of Lumpy Skin Disease in India: Currently, the maximum number of cases are from states like Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Sikkim.
But the gravity of the infection was lower than last year as cattle have now developed herd immunity.
Note: Herd immunity is when a large number of people are vaccinated against a disease, lowering the chances of others being infected by it.
What are the economic implications of Lumpy Skin Disease?
The spread of the disease can lead to “substantial” and “severe” economic losses.
The disease leads to reduced milk production as the animal becomes weak and also loses appetite due to mouth ulceration.
The income losses can also be due to poor growth, reduced draught power capacity and reproductive problems associated with abortions, infertility and lack of semen for artificial insemination.
Movement and trade bans after infection also put an economic strain on the whole value chain.
