Gujarat has begun vaccinating milch cattle against dreadful Lumpy Skin Disease.
The Gujarat government has begun vaccinating cattle against the dreadful Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) that is found in milch cattle, according to the State agriculture and animal husbandry department.
LSD, which is caused by the pox virus and suspected to be spread by blood-feeding insects such as mosquitoes, bees/flies, and others, presently has no therapy, hence cow vaccination is the only effective way to restrict the spread. Gujarat reported the first LSD cases in June and July of last year.
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LSD instances were recorded from 11 districts in the Saurashtra-Kutch and South Gujarat areas of Gujarat, according to Raghavji Patel, Gujarat’s Minister for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry. ‘Symptoms of Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle have been documented in Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Kutch, Rajkot, Porbandar, Surendranagar, Junagadh, Morbi, Bhavnagar, Amreli, and Surat.’ We have begun broad LSD immunization with an adequate supply of vaccine doses on hand. ‘Approximately 3 lakh cattle have been vaccinated so far,’ stated the Minister. Gujarat has around 95 lakh cows and buffaloes.
Hester Biosciences Limited, situated in Ahmedabad, is the first company in India to develop and commercialize an LSD vaccine. It began supplying Gujarat after obtaining permission from the Union Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Government of India, to repurpose its goat pox vaccine for LSD.
Hester Biosciences stated in a statement on Wednesday that government recommendations had advised them to ‘To guard against, prevent, and minimize mortality from LSD, use a greater dose of the Goat Pox vaccination. Hester makes Goat Pox vaccine, which is indicated for use in cattle and buffaloes at 3ml per dosage.’
‘Hester has enough Goat Pox vaccination on hand, as well as additional complementary items. It has prepared to produce additional quantities of Goat Pox vaccine for immunization and LSD prevention, as well as its complementary products, in the event of an outbreak.’
According to the company, complementing therapies such as the antibiotic CuRx Inj (Enrofloxacin+Ketoprofen) are very effective and helpful in the current LSD outbreak.
LSD symptoms include skin inflammation or nodules, as well as chronic debility in infected animals; decreased milk production, poor development, infertility, and miscarriage. In severe cases, it results in the animal’s death.
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The sickness can affect any age group of animals. It is consequently advised that all healthy animals, regardless of age group, be vaccinated once every two years until the illness is no longer considered prevalent in the nation.
LSD has a huge direct economic impact on dairy producers, with their expenses rising owing to antibiotic treatment and usage. The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has been promoting an ethnoveterinary LSD formulation that may be administered to sick cows.
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