Guwahati: Cabinet minister Atul Bora claimed on Thursday that lumpy skin disease in cattle, which has suddenly increased in Assam, is not a particularly dangerous condition and has a very low fatality rate.
Assam’s minister of agriculture, animal husbandry and veterinary, Atul Bora responded after news broke that some 30,000 cattle in the state had the viral skin disease.
When asked for a comment, the cabinet minister said, “This is not a very serious type of illness and the mortality rate from it is also very low.”
Atul Bora said, “The government is working on a plan of action to tackle the disease and to stop its spread, while also curing the already present cases.”
“The government has taken steps to contain and control the disease in the meantime,” added Atul Bora.
It should be noted that the virus that causes lumpy skin disease primarily affects cattle. It causes fever, skin nodules, and can even be fatal, especially in animals who have never been exposed to the virus. It is spread by blood-feeding insects including flies, mosquitoes, and ticks.
Around September of last year, there was a spike in cases of the virus, and over 67,000 cattle deaths were reported. This caused the Centre to take notice and launch a vaccination programme. At the time, incidents were recorded from as many as eight Indian states, per the information received.
Rita Goyale, a veterinarian, had stated in October of last year that there was no proof of the lumpy viral sickness spreading from animals to people. Over the past six months, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying has recorded more than one lakh deaths of cattle caused by the lumpy viral disease.
Speaking to ANI, veterinarian Dr Rita Goyale had said, “There is no evidence that the disease can transmit from animals to humans. It is not a zoonotic disease. It is goat pox that has gone into the cow. That is how the transmission happened. It means it is transmissible from animals to animals. The buffaloes, cows, goats and sheep are affected. No such case of transmission from animals to humans has been reported yet.”