The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will hear on October 31 a petition raising the issue pertaining to the lumpy skin disease in cattle. The matter was mentioned for urgent listing before a bench headed by Chief Justice U U Lalit.

The counsel who mentioned the matter told the bench that the disease has spread among cattle and over 67,000 cows have died till date due to this. The bench, also comprising justices Ajay Rastogi and S R Bhat, said the matter would be listed for hearing on October 31.

Lumpy skin disease is a contagious viral infection that affects cattle and causes fever, nodules on the skin, and can also lead to death. The disease gets spread by mosquitoes, flies, lice, and wasps by direct contact among the cattle, and through contaminated food and water.

The Centre had last month said more than 67,000 animals have died since the outbreak of the lumpy skin disease in July. It has spread in several states, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. On September 12, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Centre and the states were trying to control the spread of the disease.

An indigenous vaccine has been developed for the lumpy skin disease, he said after inaugurating the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit (IDF WDS) 2022. On September 28, the Delhi High Court had sought the response of the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to a plea seeking constitution of a team of veterinary doctors in each zone to deal with cases of lumpy skin disease in cattle and to set up isolation wards for treatment of the infected animals.

(With PTI inputs)