Over 155k cattle deaths so far this year due to lumpy skin disease: Govt

Over 1.55 lakh cattle have died in the country this year so far due to lumpy skin disease (LSD), the government informed the Rajya Sabha.

LSD is a contagious viral disease that affects cattle and causes fever and nodules on the skin. It can also lead to death.

"As per the latest 20th Livestock census, the cattle population in the country is approximately 19.34 crores," Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Parshottam Rupala said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

Cattle deaths due to lumpy skin disease in the country during the year 2022 stands at 1,55,366.

As per the data, Rajasthan saw the most cattle deaths at 75,819, followed by Maharashtra (24,430), Punjab (17,932), Karnataka (12,244), Himachal Pradesh (10,681), Gujarat (6,193), Haryana (2,937) and Jammu & Kashmir (2,698).

"Lumpy Skin Disease was reported initially from Odisha in September, 2019," he added.

As gathered from the states/UTs, the number of cases and vaccinations done during 2022 stood at 29,45,863 and 6,28,84,366, respectively.