MP's animal husbandry dept on alert as 5 cows show lumpy skin-like symptoms

Indore, Sep 6: Five cows in Indore district have been found with symptoms like the lumpy skin disease, prompting the Madhya Pradesh Animal Husbandry Department to send their samples for testing to an institute in Bhopal, an official said on Tuesday.

After treatment based on the symptoms, the condition of the cows is fine, Deputy Director (Animal Husbandry) Dr Ashok Barethia said. As per experts, the major symptoms of this infectious viral disease, which affects cattle, are fever, nasal and lacrimal discharge, ulcers in the eye, swollen lymph nodes and a drop in milk production.

Also, nodules are observed on skin on the head, neck, genital organs and chest regions. "The lumpy skin disease-like symptoms have been found in five cows in the rural area of Depalpur. The samples have been sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal," Barethia said.

"The disease has not been confirmed yet. We are waiting for the investigation reports," he said. In neighbouring Maharashtra, at least 22 cattle have died of the lumpy skin disease in a period of one month, according to an official from that state's animal husbandry department.

The outbreak of the disease has been reported in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu-Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. Since the disease is infectious, it is important to take preventive measures such as proper cleanliness of cowsheds and segregation of healthy animals from infected ones, according to experts.