An outbreak of Lumpy skin disease in Dairy herds of Pabna and Sirajganj districts, Bangladesh

Abstract

Lumpy skin diseases (LSD) is an economically important emerging viral disease of cattle. An outbreak of LSD was experienced in different parts of Bangladesh including Sirajganj between the last half of 2019 to the first quarter of 2020. This investigation was carried out to know the outbreak scenario of the disease in the Pabna and Sirajganj districts of Bangladesh. The LSD was diagnosed based on the clinical signs and data were collected from 97 dairy farms of two affected regions through a preformed questionnaire. A total of 886 animals were examined from those farms which includes milking cows, dry cows, heifer, calves and bulls. High fever, enlargement of superficial lymphnode and nodule on different parts of the body were most frequently encountered clinical signs during the investigation. One hundred and ninety-seven animals were found positive and showed obvious signs of LSD in mild, moderate and severe form. The proportionate prevalence was 22.2% (95%CI 19.5-25.1%) which is quite similar to the other scientific findings. The morbidity rate was slightly high in the Pabna district (22.6%; 95% CI 19.4-26.1%) than in Sirajganj (21.3%; 95% CI 16.6-26.8%). The morbidity rate was higher in the female cattle (24.9%; 95% CI 20.3-29.8%) compared to the males 15.3% (95% CI 8.4-24.7%). Due to the more number of vectors, prevalence of LSD was high in autumn (26.4%) and late autumn (36.5%) than the other seasons. Though most of the farmers rely on the veterinarians for the treatment of this disease but some of them were reluctant due to the treatment cost. So it’s important to focus on the prevention of LSD rather than the treatment.