The Jammu administration has issued advisories to check the spread of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in animals. The authorities have also put a blanket ban on the movement and transportation of dairy animals within the district.
It is a contagious disease in which peculiar lumps or nodules appear on the skin of affected cattle. Symptoms of the disease include fever, loss in milk production, nodules on the skin, nasal and eye discharge, the notice said.
The authorities have been organising a series of camps besides providing door-to-door treatment to the infected animals. They have also asked cattle owners and the officials concerned to isolate infected animals from the healthy stock.
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As per the advisory, carcasses of animals are not to be disposed of in the open and their skinning is prohibited. They are to be disposed of within two days under the supervision of officials from the animal husbandry department.
The order directed them to clean and disinfect the infected premises using phenol, sodium hypochlorite and formalin. The district administration has also issued a helpline number 18001807205.
LSD has recently spread in Asia following outbreaks in the Middle East and Europe. The disease emerged in Bangladesh in July 2019. According to a senior government official, India too saw the first case of LSD in the same year in eastern states especially West Bengal and Odisha. But this year, the disease has been reported in western and northern states as well as in Andaman Nicobar.
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The state governments have set up control rooms toll free numbers to help address the issues of animal owners and spread awareness. A control room has also been established in the ministry to address the concerns of state governments, the official added.
As per a report by The Indian Express, the disease has spread to 26 of Gujarat’s 33 districts and has claimed more than 4,000 cattle heads. In Rajasthan, around 27,000 cattle heads have reportedly succumbed to the virus. Since 2019, outbreaks of the disease have been reported in 20 states of India.