Over 67,000 cattle died so far from lumpy skin disease in India: Centre

The Centre on Monday said over 67,000 cattle have died since the outbreak of the lumpy skin disease in July, prompting a massive effort to vaccinate cattle in over eight states with most cases of the disease.

Speaking to PTI, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department Secretary Jatindra Nath Swain said states are currently using the 'goat pox' vaccine to control lumpy skin disease (LSD) in cattle.

The commercial launch of a new vaccine 'Lumpi-ProVacInd' for LSD, developed by two institutes of agri research body ICAR, will take the next "three-four months," he said.

The lumpy skin disease has spread mainly in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. There are some stray cases in Andhra Pradesh and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

"In Rajasthan, the number of death is 600-700 per day. But in other states, it is less than 100 in a single day," he said, adding that the ministry has asked states to accelerate the vaccination ...