Himachal Pradesh: Lumpy Virus Poses Threat In Una And Hamirpur Districts

The authorities alerted the two districts following the reports of an outbreak of the virus in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Uttarakhand.

What is the Lumpy Virus?

Lumpy skin disease is an infectious disease caused among cattle by a lumpy virus. The infection causes the formation of knots in the body of animals, which also suffer from weight loss, fluid discharges from the mouth, high fever and reduced milk, as the condition worsens.

Nearly 25,000 animals were affected by the lumpy virus in Hamirpur and Una district last year, with about 1,209 animals dying in Una alone. ?

What are the officials saying?

A spokesman of the Animal husbandry department said on Wednesday that the animal husbandry department in Una district has geared up against the disease.

The department has appealed to the dairy farmers to get their animals vaccinated and has asked them to not buy and sell animals from neighbouring states. ?

Una Deputy Director of the Animal Husbandry Department, Dr Jai Singh Sen said that the department is fully prepared to deal with the lumpy virus.

He said the vaccine is available absolutely free of cost in all veterinary institutes of the district. "Don't buy and sell animals from Lumpy affected areas," Sen stressed.

He also appealed to the cattle rearers to immediately report any symptoms such as high fever, loss of appetite, loss of milk and thick lumps in the skin in their cattle to the nearest veterinary hospital or pharmacy. ?

?He said that this year so far not a single case of this disease has been reported in Una district.

(With PTI inputs)