Rajasthan: 25,000 bovines infected by contagious lumpy skin disease, over 1,200 dead

“The outbreak started from Jaisalmer and then spread to Jodhpur, Nagaur, Jalore, Hanumangarh, Bikaner and Sri Ganganagar. The disease was first noticed sporadically in April but due to its contagious nature is rapidly spreading. Lumpy skin disease results from a virus. Just like the Coronavirus, lumpy affects the immune system of bovines, gradually resulting in deaths. Around 20,000-25,000 bovines have been affected so far and around 1,200 bovines have died,” said Arvind Jaitly, Deputy Director (Disease Control), Animal Husbandry Department.

He added that separate teams have been formed by the Animal Husbandry department which are overseeing that affected animals are separated from bovines not yet infected by the disease to check its spread.

“We are seeing that mostly bovines from indigenous breeds are being infected by the disease. Few cases have also been noticed among buffaloes but those are very less in number,” said Jaitley.

He added that bovines kept in gaushalas (cow shelters) have been most affected.

As per data from the Rajasthan Directorate of Gopalan website, the Jodhpur division has 1,005 registered gaushalas with 3.9 lakh bovines and the Bikaner division has 798 cow shelters with 3.1 lakh bovines. Both these divisions have been affected by the lumpy skin disease, said officials.

Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Kailash Choudhary, who is also the MP from Barmer-Jaisalmer, took to Twitter Friday and said that it is sad that the disease is resulting in the deaths of bovines, leading to farmers and cattle rearers being left scared and disappointed.

Choudhary appealed to the state government to show seriousness over the issue and take appropriate action.

Choudhary said that a team of scientists from the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) was sent to Rajasthan to study the disease and its prevention and with its advice, the Centre will take necessary steps to stop the spread of the disease.

“There is a need for the government to work on a war footing to stop the disease, which is not happening presently. The animal husbandry department needs to set up control rooms in each district. The disease has mostly spread among bovines in gaushalas, apart from those with farmers and stray animals. We are preparing various kadhas to boost the immune system of the animals. There are around 1,200-1,300 bovines infected in the cow shelters under Pathmeda alone, with around 300-plus deaths,” said Raghunath Singh Rajpurohit, state general secretary of the Rajasthan Gauseva Samiti and honorary chief secretary of the Pathmeda Gaudham in Jalore.