Lumpy skin disease out of control in Baitadi

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Lumpy skin out of control in Baitadi
Lumpy skin out of control in Baitadi (File photo)

Livestock numbers in the Baitadi district have been severely affected by the lumpy skin disease’s rapid spread.

The officials at Patan’s Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Service Centra stated that the animal disease in the district has gotten out of hand and that there is now no vaccine available.

Dr. Bishal Pathak, the center’s livestock development officer, claimed that more than 64,000 domestic animals have contracted lumpy skin, and more than 9,200 of those animals have already perished as a result of the infection. 

“The cases of lumpy skin infection has increased every day but the district lacks vaccines.

We have written to the federal and province governments requesting vaccines,” Dr Pathak said.

Though the mountainous region is less affected, it is claimed that the disease has spread to all 84 wards in the district and has taken the form of an epidemic.

The infectious virus disease lumpy skin is spread to cattle via ticks, flies, and mosquitoes.

The diseased cattle experience symptoms like high fever, appetite loss, decreased milk production, and swollen lymph nodes, which can also be fatal.

According to reports, 1-3 percent of afflicted animals may pass away from the disease, and the death rate may increase in the absence of basic care. The disease was first reported in Nepal in July 2020.

In the first two years after the detection of contagious disease, as many as 13 out of 3,301 infected cattle of 16 districts died due in Nepal.