Lumpy Skin Disease

Lumpy skin disease (LSD, knopvelsiekte) is a pox disease of cattle characterised by fever, nodules 4 on the skin, mucous membranes and internal organs, emaciation, enlarged lymph nodes, oedema 5 of the skin, and sometimes death. The disease is of economic importance because it causes 6 reduced production, particularly in dairy herds. It also causes damage to the hide. LSD is caused by 7 strains of capripoxvirus that are antigenically indistinguishable from strains causing sheep pox and 8 goat pox. However, LSD has a partially different geographical distribution from sheep and goat pox, 9 suggesting that cattle strains of capripoxvirus do not infect and transmit between sheep and goats. 10 Transmission of LSD virus is thought to be predominantly by insects, natural contact transmission in 11 the absence of insect vectors being inefficient. Lumpy skin disease occurs in most African countries. 12 The most recent outbreaks outside Africa occurred in the Middle East in 2006 and 2007 and in 13 Mauritius in 2008.[Until 1988 LSD was confined to sub-Saharan Africa, but then spread into Egypt. There 14 have been only two laboratory-confirmed outbreaks of LSD outside Africa: in Israel in 1989, which was 15 eliminated by slaughter of all infected and in-contact cattle, and vaccination, and in Reunion in 1993. An 16 outbreak was reported in Bahrain in 1993 but was not confirmed by virus isolation. There was an outbreak in 17 2000 in cattle imported into Mauritius; the diagnosis was confirmed by electron microscopy.] 18