Lumpy skin disease

3 minutes read

Lumpy skin disease is a viral disease that affects cattle. It is transmitted by blood-feeding insects, such as certain species A subdivision of the genus, a species is a group of closely related and similar-looking organisms; for example, in the case of Homo sapiens (humans), the second part of the name (sapiens) represents the species. of flies and mosquitoes, or ticks.

It causes fever, nodules on the skin and can also lead to death, especially in animals that that have not previously been exposed to the virus. Control options include vaccinations and culling of infected animals.

Lumpy skin disease can lead to significant economic losses.

The disease is present in many African countries. In 2012, it spread from the Middle East to south-east Europe, affecting EU Member States (Greece and Bulgaria) and several other countries in the Balkans. A vaccination programme has since halted the epidemic A widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time. in south-east Europe.

Latest

February 2020 EFSA’s fourth status report on lumpy skin disease in south-east Europe shows that there were no new outbreaks in the region in 2019. The mass vaccination campaign supported by the EU Commission continued throughout the year, covering more than 1.8 million cattle.

Milestones

2019
March
EFSA publishes its third report on the status of lumpy skin disease in south-east Europe. The report shows that there were no outbreaks in the region in 2018, suggesting that the vaccination programme and other control measures have succeeded in halting the epidemic.
2018
October
EFSA assesses the most effective strategies for eliminating lumpy skin disease. These include the ideal duration of vaccination programmes to eliminate the disease and possible surveillance methods.
February
A new report concludes that outbreaks of lumpy skin disease in the Balkan region fell dramatically by 95% from 7,483 in 2016 to 385 in 2017. The figures confirm that vaccination of cattle – recommended by EFSA in 2016 – is the most effective way to contain the disease.
2017
April
EFSA experts conclude that the mass vaccination of cattle implemented in south-eastern Europe successfully contained the outbreaks of lumpy skin disease in the region in 2015-16.
2016
July
Experts assess the effectiveness of measures to control the spread of the disease in the EU. They recommend that mass vaccination of cattle should be implemented to minimise the number of outbreaks in regions at risk from lumpy skin disease or where the disease is already present.
2014
December
EFSA experts provide an overview of the latest available knowledge on lumpy skin disease. This includes mapping the areas of the world where the disease is present; evaluating the pathways of introduction into the EU and risk of spread; and reviewing prevention and control methods.

EFSA's role

EFSA helps to ensure that food producing animals remain healthy, as part of its mandate to improve EU food safety and animal health and to ensure a high level of consumer protection.

EFSA provides scientific advice on transboundary animal diseases – highly contagious diseases that can spread rapidly across national borders.

Experts of EFSA’s Animal Health and Welfare Panel assess the latest available knowledge on epidemiology The study of how often diseases and other health conditions occur in different groups of people and why. It includes the study of health-related measurements (e.g. pesticide exposure or vitamin deficiency) in a population and how they may influence the risk of ill health., diagnosis and control of such diseases.

Disease Profiles

EFSA has produced an interactive disease profile on Lumpy skin disease. The disease profile is updated through seven living systematic reviews covering: 1) Geographic Distribution, 2) Experimental Infections; 3) Vaccination Efficacy How well something works in relation to predefined standards or expectations.; 4) Pathogen Organism (e.g. bacterium, virus and parasite) that can cause disease. Survival; 5) Diagnostic Test Accuracy; 6) Vector A carrier of a disease-causing agent from an infected individual to a non-infected individual or its food or environment; for example, mosquitoes carrying malaria parasites. Control and 7) Treatment Efficacy. When sufficient studies are found and reviewed, a meta-analysis A statistical method which enables the results of similar studies to be pooled in order to determine any significant trends. is carried out automatically on the extracted data and the results are visualised in the disease profiles. In addition, links to other risk assessments on the diseases carried out by EFSA are provided.

Please check our video for a short demonstration of the disease profiles.

EU framework

Control measures to prevent the spread of lumpy skin disease are based on Council Directive 92/119/EEC. These include measures to control illegal movement of livestock and culling of infected animals.

The Commission has adopted some implementing decisions to approve the emergency vaccination programme of cattle in Greece (Commission implementing decision 2015/2055) and to lay down control measures against lumpy skin disease in Greece (Commission implementing decision 2015/1500) and in Bulgaria (Commission implementing decision 2016/645).

Lumpy skin disease is a notifiable disease, according to Council Directive 82/894/EEC.