How did the Lumpy Skin outbreak that killed millions of cattle occur? Researchers Find Answer | leader

Leading Online Desk : Since May 2022, 1 lakh cattle have died due to lumpy skin disease in various states of the country including Maharashtra. Nearly 20 lakh cattle were infected with this disease. Researchers have finally succeeded in finding the reason why this disease broke out in India.

Utpal Tatu, a researcher at the Indian Institute of Science, and his colleagues have conducted this research by studying the lumpy skin virus. After researching the DNA of the Lumpy Skin virus using genome sequencing techniques, researchers have made some important findings.

These researchers studied Lumpy Skin Disease Virus (LSDV) using Whole Genome Sequencing technique. It was observed that two variants of LSDV are prevalent in India. The first of these variants is analogous to local eruptions that have occurred so far. In the second variant, several changes were observed at the genomic level and this variant is similar to the virus from the 2015 outbreak in Russia. LSDV is a DNA virus and usually DNA viruses are more stable, so they don't change much. So the change in this virus has come as a surprise to researchers. These changes date back to around 1800, suggesting that the disease may have originated in India Researchers believe. This research will help researchers develop future vaccines against lumpy skin.

Also read this