What Is The Cause Of Lumpy Skin Disease
Lumpy skin disease is a viral skin disease that affects cattle. It is transmitted by insects, such as certain species of flies and mosquitoes or ticks. It causes fever, nodules on the skin and can even cause death, especially in animals that have not been previously exposed to the virus. It causes skin fever, and can even cause death, control options include vaccination and killing infected animals.
Lumpy skin disease can cause significant economic losses. Lumpy skin disease is an infectious, eruptive, sometimes fatal disease of cattle characterized by nodules on the skin and other parts of the body. Secondary bacterial infections often exacerbate the condition. Lumpy skin disease is found in southern and eastern Africa, But in the 1970s it expanded through the northwestern continent into sub-Saharan West Africa. Since 2000, it has spread to several countries in the Middle East, and in 2013 it spread westward to Turkey and several countries in the Balkans.
What causes lumpy skin disease virus
The recent geographic spread of lumpy skin disease has caused international concern. The disease has not been recorded in the Western Hemisphere or in Australia or New Zealand.
Infection usually causes acute illness with:
fever
depression
Skin nodules
Decreased milk yield
Abortion in pregnant animals.
Is lumpy skin disease painful
How it spreads:
Through the movement of infected animals
By biting insects or parasites such as flies, mosquitoes and ticks
by contaminated equipment
In some cases directly from animal to animal.
How do you treat lumpy skin
Its incidence is highest in humid summer weather, but it can occur in winter. It is most common in watercourses and lowlands. Because quarantine restrictions designed to limit the spread of infection often fail, biting insects have been suspected as mechanical vectors. However, outbreaks have occurred in situations where Pests can be virtually eliminated. Experimentally, three species of hard ticks found in Africa have been shown to transmit the virus biologically.
Nodules are well-circumscribed, round, slightly raised, firm and painful and involve the entire cutis and GI, respiratory and genital mucosa. Over time, the nodules either regress or necrosis of the skin results in hard, raised areas (“sit-fast”) clearly separated from the surrounding skin. These areas are slow to leave ulcers.