A cow suffering from lumpy skin disease in Lakes. (Photo: Yang Ater).
At least 270 cattle died and thousands of cattle have been infected in a Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) outbreak in Lakes State between August and September 2024, according to a government official.
Lakes State Minister of Animals Resources, Fisheries, and Tourism, Samuel Gai Magok, confirmed that 5,024 cattle have been affected by the disease.
Magok announced the outbreak and instructed the state’s residents and the federal government to take precautions against infecting their cattle.
“So far, we have conducted an investigation and collected data in all eight counties of Lakes State, and even now, we have all the data available to prove the outbreak,” he said.
He said out of the 5,024 cows infected, 273 died and 3,588 have recovered, while 1,480 are still nursing the disease.
“I would like to inform more, especially the livestock owners, to take these preventive measures. Isolation of sick animals, cleaning the environment—that’s the cow yard—and minimizing random livestock migration.”
“This disease is actually serious, and it is devastating and killing a lot of animals. We urge you (the national government and partners) to respond quickly as soon as possible to rescue the few animals we have. We need drugs and vaccines from the partners such that the few will be rescued.”
On his part, Mayak Mabil, a community veterinary health worker in Rumbek Centre County, said that the animal disease locally known as tuuntun has infected a large number of livestock in the area.
He said all the cattle camps in the state are facing the same outbreak, yet they lack vaccines against the viral animal disease.
“This disease is killing very many cows and goats. All these times, it’s FAO, which used to provide us with medicines for animal’s diseases, and RRC organization. But these NGOs did not give us any other assistance to animals in Lakes State.”
Lumpy skin disease virus is a disease of cattle characterized by fever, nodules on the skin, mucous membranes and internal organs, emaciation, enlarged lymph nodes, oedema of the skin, and sometimes death.
The disease is of economic importance as it can cause a temporary reduction in milk production, temporary or permanent sterility in bulls, and damage to hides.
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