Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD), a trans-boundary viral disease of cattle is caused by the lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), and is characterised by nodules on skin, discharge from the eyes and nose, reduced milk production and difficulty in eating, therefore having a negative impact on farmers’ livelihoods and food access and availability.
LSD causes significant morbidity and mortality and LSDV was first reported in India in August 2019. Subsequently, there have been three waves of infections till date with the most recent outbreak in 2022 creating havoc in various parts of the country. Death of over 80,000 cattle has been reported in the recent outbreak of LSD in at least seven States, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Delhi.
National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB)’s Anand Srivastava and his team have designed a multi-epitope protein (several small peptides joined together in a single continuous protein fragment) as a vaccine candidate against LSD virus using a computational biology approach.
