From Outbreak to Endemic: Managing Lumpy Skin Disease in India

Pashu Sandesh, 10 August 2025

Dr Akash Waghmare

Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) has become a persistent challenge to India’s cattle sector. After the devastating wave of 2022 that killed tens of thousands of animals and depressed milk production in several states, India’s livestock health system now faces the reality of an endemic, vector-borne threat that resurfaces periodically.

The latest surveillance from the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying (as of July 2025) shows active LSD cases in a small but significant number of states — including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. While national prevalence is far lower than during the 2022 crisis, recent district-level outbreaks in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra confirm the virus’s ability to persist locally and flare under favourable conditions.

Vaccination: Progress and Pitfalls

Vaccination remains India’s primary defence against LSD, but its implementation has been marked by both innovation and inconsistency.

In the initial phase, heterologous vaccines based on goatpox or sheeppox virus were deployed as an emergency measure when specific LSD vaccines were unavailable. Although some cross-protection was documented, field results were inconsistent and depended heavily on vaccine strain, storage, and administration quality.

The gold standard internationally is the homologous Neethling-lineage LSD vaccine, which offers strong and durable protection. India’s scientific community, led by ICAR institutes, responded with the indigenous Lumpi-ProVacInd — a homologous vaccine developed in 2022 and subsequently licensed to multiple domestic manufacturers. The recent approval of commercial products such as Biovet’s Biolumpivaxin further expands production capacity.

However, scaling supply has proven more difficult than developing the vaccine. Procurement delays, tendering bottlenecks, cold-chain shortfalls, and uneven state-level coverage have left gaps in the protective shield. Without high-coverage, region-wide immunisation, the virus finds susceptible herds and re-establishes transmission.

Economic Losses and Dairy Sector Impact

Economic studies across multiple Indian states highlight LSD’s capacity to inflict both direct and indirect losses. Directly, farmers lose animals to death or culling, bear treatment costs, and see milk yields fall sharply in infected cows. Indirectly, the disease triggers market restrictions, devalues hides, and forces costly changes in milk procurement and transport.

In the worst-hit states in 2022, daily milk output in some districts dropped by more than 15–20%. Dairies scrambled to source milk from unaffected areas, incurring higher transport costs.

A recent multicentre economic analysis found that per-animal milk losses during outbreaks ranged widely but could exceed ₹8,000–₹12,000 per cow in certain regions. Scaled nationally, the cumulative loss from a single widespread wave can run into hundreds of crores, with the brunt borne by smallholder dairy farmers

Gaps in Control Efforts

Three systemic weaknesses stand out in India’s LSD response so far:

1. Vaccine Logistics – The existence of effective vaccines is not enough; predictable production, robust cold-chain systems, and pre-monsoon stockpiling are critical.
2. Surveillance & Rapid Response – While laboratory and genomic capabilities have improved, the speed of translating detection into district-level containment action remains uneven.
3. Vector Control & Biosecurity – The mechanical transmission of LSD by flies and biting insects peaks during the monsoon, yet integrated vector management remains underfunded and under-implemented.

Policy Priorities Going Forward

With LSD now endemic, eradication is not a realistic short-term goal. The aim should be sustained suppression of outbreaks through:

• Targeted Vaccination: Use homologous vaccines wherever possible, backed by genomic surveillance to detect vaccine-break variants.
• Coordinated Procurement: Secure long-term contracts with domestic producers to avoid last-minute shortages.
• Surge Capacity: Equip district rapid response teams with vector control kits, diagnostic support, and mobile vaccination units.
• Farmer Incentives: Ensure prompt compensation and launch communication campaigns to maintain reporting and consumer confidence.
• Integrated Vector Management: Make insect control a standard part of outbreak response and vaccination drives.

Concluding note

LSD in India has moved from an emergency shock in 2022 to an endemic threat with episodic flare-ups. The science is clear: vaccination works, but only as part of a package that includes reliable vaccine supply (preferably homologous vaccines with demonstrated efficacy), strong surveillance (including genomics), vector control and policies that protect smallholder livelihoods. The next 12–24 months represent a window to convert vaccine licences and technological breakthroughs into durable protection for India’s dairy backbone. Without that, recurrent outbreaks will continue to exact a heavy economic and social toll.

The tools exist. The science is sound. The challenge is execution.