Context: Biovet, a subsidiary of Bharat Biotech has indigenously developed the world’s first lumpy skin disease (LSD) vaccine- Biolumpivaxin.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Key facts about Lumpy Skin Disease.
Lumpy Skin Disease
- Highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects cattle. It is caused by the lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), which belongs to the Capripoxvirus genus.
- Transmission- Can spread through:
- vectors (like mosquitoes, some biting flies, and ticks)
- direct contact to skin lesions, saliva, nasal discharge, milk, or semen of infected animals.
- contaminated fodder and water through oral and nasal secretions of infected animals
- during artificial insemination using contaminated semen.
- It is not a zoonotic virus i.e., the disease cannot spread to humans. It is safe to consume milk from the infected cattle, as it is a non-zoonotic disease.
- The morbidity of the disease varies between two to 45% and mortality or rate of death is less than 10%.
Symptoms
LSD affects the lymph nodes of the infected animal, causing the nodes to enlarge and appear like lumps on the skin, which is where it derives its name from.
- The cutaneous nodules (2-5 cm in diameter) appear on the infected cattle’s head, neck, limbs, udder, genitalia, and perineum. The nodules may later turn into ulcers and eventually develop scabs over the skin.
- Other symptoms include- high fever, sharp drop in milk yield, discharge from the eyes and nose, salivation, loss of appetite, depression, damaged hides, emaciation (thinness or weakness) of animals, infertility and abortions.
Spread & Implications:
- LSD is currently endemic in several countries across Africa, parts of West Asia (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic), and Turkey. The disease reached India in August 2019, with initial cases detected in Odisha and West Bengal.
- Implications:
- Reduced milk production as the animal becomes weak, and loses appetite due to mouth ulceration.
- Leads to abortion in pregnant bovines and sterility in bulls.
- Threatens the livelihoods of smaller farmers significantly which incur losses due to cattle deaths.
Lumpy Skin Disease Vaccine:
- Biolumpivaxin is the world's first and an indigenously developed LSD Vaccine.
- Developed by: Biovet, a subsidiary of Bharat Biotech.
- It is a live-attenuated DIVA (Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals) marker vaccine developed using the LSD virus.
- This is a single vaccination regimen given once in a year to cattle and buffaloes of all ages.
- It is approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
Key Facts:
- India is the world’s largest milk producer at about 210 million tonnes annually. India also has the largest headcount of cattle and buffalo worldwide.
- According to government data, there have been two major outbreaks of LSD in India, the first in 2019 and the second in 2022. During these outbreaks approximately 200,000 cattle have died, and millions more cattle have lost their milk production capabilities.