Lumpy Cow Skin Disease Treatment Explained

 Lumpy cow skin disease is a concern for cattle owners, leading to significant economic losses worldwide. Thus, many are eager to know what treatment works. 

Unfortunately, lumpy cow skin disease has no direct antiviral treatment. Instead, the infected animals receive supportive care, which involves the use of antibiotics, painkillers, and wound care sprays to treat symptoms. As there’s no treatment, vaccines are used to control disease transmission.

A clear-cut treatment regimen for this prevalent disease would be a godsend for many livestock farmers. However, it remains elusive for the time being. Still, as you’ll learn in this article, all hope is not lost.

What Is Lumpy Cow Skin Disease?

Lumpy cow skin disease is a viral infection caused by a capripoxvirus. It originated in Africa, but since the 1970s, the condition has been affecting cattle in Asia and Europe. For instance, a case was recorded in Indonesia in March 2022. 

To the best of my knowledge, lumpy cow skin disease has not shown up in North America yet. That being said, we need to stay alert and be prepared. 

The ease of transmission, lack of treatment, and significant economic loss have made this disease a primary concern for livestock owners and governments worldwide.

Symptoms of Lumpy Cow Skin Disease

Lumpy cow skin disease is often detected through the presence of skin nodules in the following parts of a cattle’s body:

• Head
• Neck
• Udder
• Scrotum
• Perineum
• Respiratory tract (severe cases)
• Gastrointestinal tract (severe cases)

Besides skin lesions, symptoms include: 

• Fever
• Depression
• Anorexia 
• Reluctance to move
• Rhinitis (nasal discharge)
• Conjunctivitis 
• Excess salivation (hypersalivation) 
• Watering eyes (lacrimation)
• Decrease in milk production

Lumpy cow skin disease may lead to abortion or miscarriage in pregnant cattle. If the baby calf survives, it also shows skin nodules and other symptoms. Sometimes, this can also lead to hair loss in the calves.

Some cattle may show all these symptoms or even none. Others have tiny skin lesions that many livestock owners miss.

Transmission of Lumpy Cow Skin Disease

The best-known conduit of lumpy cow skin disease transmission is insects, such as ticks, flies, and mosquitos. 

However, science is yet to determine if that’s the only means of passing on the disease as there are other possible ways, for example, direct contact (cattle-to-cattle) and infected objects or instruments.

What is certain, though, is that lumpy cow skin disease cannot be transmitted to humans, even when you drink milk from an infected animal. 

Diagnosis of Lumpy Cow Skin Disease

Veterinarians may use the presence of skin nodules and other symptoms typical of lumpy cow skin disease to establish a diagnosis. 

However, for the confirmation of a diagnosis or suspicions, diagnostic methods such as histopathology, virus isolation, and PCR can be used. Of these three, virus isolation and PCR are among the best as they involve laboratory tests that determine the type of virus present. That’s important because the causal virus is the primary characterization of this illness. 

You may be wondering why go to such lengths to identify the type of virus infecting your cattle. That’s because lumpy cow skin disease can be mistaken for other conditions that cause skin lesions, such as:

 

• Pseudo-lumpy skin disease
• Bovine herpes mammillitis  
• Bovine papular stomatitis
• Pseudocowpox
• Cowpox 
• Cutaneous tuberculosis 
• Demodicosis

How to Treat Lumpy Cow Skin Disease

As I’ve noted, lumpy cow skin disease is a viral condition. Thus, antiviral substances are essential as a means of primary treatment. However, such are yet to be developed.