What you should know about the lumpy skin disease of cattle

A cow with lumpy skin disease. Although there is very little information on the disease, doctors agree that animals sharing a drinking place is one way it is spread. File Photo.

What you need to know:

Last month, pastoralists in Mubende District lost tens of heads of cattle to the lumpy skin disease. While farmers were blamed for reporting the disease late, there is little information on it.

James Odongo, a cattle farmer from Gulu, was worried when he saw wounds on the back of his heifer. The small wounds later caused the skin to start peeling off, leaving larger wounds on the cow’s body.

What he thought was an injury spread through the trunk of the animal and affected the joints, and tail area leaving it with open wounds. It took the analysis of a veterinary doctor for him to know that it was a skin infection called lumpy skin disease.

Causes
Tony Aliro, a veterinary doctor based in Gulu, says lumpy skin disease, which is more commonly known as LSD, majorly affects the skin of the animals. He says the disease is usually brought about by lack of proper vaccination of the animals by the owners which endangers the animal.

The disease can easily be transmitted through infected saliva and this occurs when animals share a common drinking place. Therefore when an infected animal drinks from the same place with healthy animals, they have a high chance of getting sick.

Dr Charles Lagu, a veterinary doctor and the zonal National Agricultural Advisory Services co-ordinator south western Agro-ecological zone, says lumpy skin disease appears sporadically. The rate at which its spread is highest in dry weather, but it may occur in wet seasons, adds Lagu.

It is most prevalent along water courses where cattle share common drinking water. Because quarantine restrictions designed to limit the spread of infection have failed, biting insects have been suspected as vectors.

However, outbreaks have occurred under conditions in which insects could practically be excluded.

“Because the disease can be transmitted by infected saliva, contact infection must be accepted as a method of spread. Wildlife, for example buffaloes, are suspected to be carriers,” he explains.

Signs
Aliro says the most common signs of the disease include fever, raised firm and painful lumps on the skin, especially around the head, neck, genitals, limbs and tail of the animal.

As the disease progresses, deep scabs form on the lumps and secondary bacterial infection develops on the damaged skin. Other signs include lameness and enlargement of the nymph nodes in the limbs.

In severe cases, signs include depression, discharge of mucus and tears from the nose and eyes respectively, excess salivation that accompanies the appearance of skin nodules, loss of appetite, reluctance to move and weight loss.

Although few cattle die from the disease, many become debilitated and can remain in extremely poor body condition for up to six months. The lumps take several months to heal and permanently damage the hide.

Treatment
Dr Aliro says there is no specific treatment for the disease but that it can be prevented by vaccinating the animal. However, in case of damaged skin, treat the condition as a secondary infection because the wounds attract other infectious diseases which eventually weaken the animal.

Aliro advises that once the signs have been detected, they should be treated immediately to avoid having secondary infections and spreading it to the other animals.