Two cattle heads die of Lumpy skin disease in Bihar, govt intensifies vaccination drive

The lethal viral infection, spread by vectors including parasitic ticks and mosquito bites, has spread in hundreds of villages in ten districts including Patna.

Two cattle heads died and as many as 1,258 cattle heads were infected with Lumpy skin disease in Bihar, said officials on Thursday. The lethal viral infection, spread by vectors including parasitic ticks and mosquito bites, has spread in hundreds of villages in 10 districts including Patna.

According to the officials, the milk-producing animals do not shed the virus through the milk. However, milk production is reduced due to the infection and the reports of its human transmission have been dismissed. Shravan Kumar, the Secretary of the Department of Animal and Fisheries Resources said the situation is under control and free vaccination of the animals has been started from January 9 to prevent the disease.

Animal Health and Production Institute, Patna Regional Director and Rapid Response Team has been formed at the district level. As per the official reports, 1.38 crore cows in the state are being vaccinated. The vaccination drive began in 28 districts of the state and around 40,100 cattles have been vaccinated.

The officials also said that the disease has only been found in cows in Bihar. The veterinary doctors of the state have been trained regarding the disease. Lumpy disease is a viral disease that affects cattle. It is transmitted by blood-feeding insects, such as certain species of flies and mosquitoes, or ticks. It causes fever and nodules on the skin and can lead to the death of the cattle.

Earlier this year, an MoU for the production of goat pox vaccine and 'Lumpi-ProVac' vaccine was signed in Nagpur in the presence of Union minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry Parshottam Rupala, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Phadnavis. National Centre for Veterinary Type Culture, ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE), Hisar (Haryana), in collaboration with ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar (UP) developed a homologous live-attenuated LSD vaccine, named Lumpi-ProVac.

The Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE)'s commercial arm Agrinnovate India under the ministry of agriculture and farmers' welfare granted "non-exclusive rights" for the commercial production of Lumpi-ProVac to the Institute of Veterinary Biological Products (IVBP), Pune. The virus has been reported in India in 2019 while the first case was reported in the state of Odisha. (ANI)

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