Jodhpur cattle farmers face livelihood crisis as Lumpy Skin Disease kills livestock

The city of Jodhpur and its surrounding areas are in a sombre mood. This hub of cattle farmers has seen a massive loss of life among its cows in the past few months, and accounts for a large portion of the state's 60,000-plus cow deaths due to Lumpy Skin Disease.

Sixty-year-old Poona Ram is one of the farmers affected. All of his 10 cows have been infected by the viral disease and one of them is dead. He, like many of the farmers in the area, said that while the state government claims to have stepped up efforts to vaccinate cattle and try to stop the spread of the disease, these steps have not been timely or enough or very effective.

Poona Ram said, “We did not get support from the government, no vaccine, no medicines, nothing. Some of the cows are getting affected again. Farmers are also facing severe losses.”

There is a pall of gloom over Arshi Devi's farm, 500 metres away. She has already lost two cows to the disease, and says the rest of her small herd is in danger. It's a story common across farms and cattle shelters in the region.

“We had six cows, two have died. The other cow has also not fully recovered. If government has any scheme to support us, it should implement that now,” Arshi Devi said.

Jaswant Dewasi of Krishna Gaushala said, “We had 150 cows. Half have died. We couldn't save them.”

Of the 15 states where Lumpy Skin Disease has been reported among cows, Rajasthan is the worst hit, and accounts for nearly 60-70 percent of the country's cattle deaths that are being attributed to the disease. While both state governments and the Centre say that the vaccination drives they have started should help, scientists say a lot more research into the disease is needed.

“We identified the genetic composition via genome sequencing. However genomic studies don't throw any light on how the current vaccine is going to perform,” Dr Sridhar Sivasubbu said.

The National Institute of Virology in Pune and the Indian Council of Medical Research have also started conducting research on the virus.

Studies so far suggest that as of now, this disease is not transmitted to humans through milk or meat, but the ground reality is that in states like Rajasthan and Punjab, Lumpy Skin Disease has hit milk collection, and the effects have national repercussions.

Pushan Sharma, Director at CRISIL Research, said, “If cattle gets infected, the yield for indigenous cow reduces by 25-40 percent and 50 percent for exotic cows. In Punjab, overall yield has reduced by 15-20 percent.”

The problem of low milk yields is compounded by an increasing apprehension among milk consumers.

While there is still no concrete plan to save the cows, some farmers fear that a second wave has begun,. and that the virus could spread to other species of cattle.

Experts say very little research has been done about Lumpy Skin Disease. The first case in the country was reported in Gujarat in April this year. It's been over six months and yet very little is known about the disease. There's also no guarantee that the current vaccination drive will actually help, and no evidence to suggest that this disease will not spread from cows to other animal species.