Gujarat: Lumpy skin disease spreads in 14 districts, claims 1000 livestock

The release said that cases of the infectious disease have been reported from 880 villages and that 37,121 infected cattle and buffaloes have been given veterinary treatment.

The disease has spread to 14 districts of Kutch, Saurashtra, north Gujarat and south Gujarat regions, leaving only the central Gujarat region unaffected. The minister said that the disease had claimed 999 cattle and buffaloes as of Sunday.

The release said the disease, which spreads through vectors like houseflies, mosquitos, ticks etc has spread into Kutch district and all 11 districts in Saurashtra —Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Rajkot, Porbandar, Morbi, Surendranagar, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Gir Somnath and Botad. Cases of the viral disease have also come to light from Banaskantha in north Gujarat region and Surat in south Gujarat, the release further said.

The viral infection leads to fever among cattle and buffaloes as well as other symptoms like excessive nasal and salivary secretion, firm and raised nodules on skin around head, neck, genitals etc.

The animal stops taking food and production of milk among milch animals goes down. Pregnant cows and buffaloes often suffer miscarriage and in some cases diseased animals die as nodules burst and those parts can become infected by secondary infections.

“After the first case of this disease was reported, the government called a high-level meeting as advised by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and issued instructions to take measures for controlling the disease. Thanks to that, there has been success in containing the spread of the disease,” the release quoted Patel as saying.
The Minister said that 2.68 lakh cattle heads were vaccinated in affected villages to prevent the spread of the disease.

He further said that a state-level control room has been set up to monitor the situation continuously and that a toll free helpline has been activated to guide cattle-herders and dairy farmers to tackle the disease. They can dial 1962 for seeking help in treating affected cattle and guidance about the precautionary measures.