Update on global distribution of
Lumpy Skin Disease and the
challenges of controlling it
Dr. Eeva Tuppurainen
Institute of International Animal Health/One Health, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Germany

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
Importance of healthy livestock
• Healthy animals equal better production, better income and more opportunities for
farmers
• Owning livestock improves social status, wealth and livelihoods, affects power
relationships, gender balance and distribution of benefits
• Cattle farming effects natural environment and its resources
• Sustainable keeping of healthy livestock protects the environment
Environment
Farmers
Global food supply
• Food supply, trade and cash income when needed
• Traction power and fertilizer for crop production

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
Ideal outcome of the LSD–Symposium
Latest scientific
findings on LSD
Challenges in the field
and the strengths and
weaknesses of our
current control actions
Ideas and
recommendations
to find the way
forward

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
Worldwide distribution of LSD

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
• Africa is endemic for LSD. Vaccination policies vary without regional harmonization. Farmers may not
see the value of vaccination or may not be able to afford it.
• Israel and the Middle East- living under constant infection pressure and changing obligatory
vaccination to a voluntary ones
• EU and the Balkans - successful eradication by using stamping out and mass vaccination with LSD
virus based vaccine for at least 4 years and by creating a buffer zone by immunizing the cattle
population in Turkish Thrace region
• Asian countries - in general a low vaccination coverage and uncontrolled spread
Examples from different parts of the world

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
Pillars of successful control and eradication

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
Risk factors for lumpy skin disease virus
Hightened
risk
Low or no
immunity
against LSDV
Cattle
movements
from affected
to disease-
free regions
Farming
practices
Environment
Season
Lack of capacity
and awareness
• Fully susceptible cattle
population
• Poor vaccination coverage
• Vaccinated but not yet protected
• Vaccination has ceased
• No vaccination records kept
• Trade, nomadic and transhumance
farming - Livestock markets
• Cattle smuggling and stealing
• Contacts with stray/feral cattle
• Lack of testing and vaccination before
movements or transport
• Contacts with neighboring
herds
• Purchace of new animals
• Use of local breeding bull
• Shared veterinary or other
equipments
• Unregular monitoring of
cattle herds
• Presence of suitable breeding sites for
vectors (standing water and dunghills)
• Grassland is suitable for ticks
• High cattle movement activities
• High numbers vectors
• Veterinary services - staff,
transport, diagnostic resources,
funding, equipment
• Low awareness on LSD
• Under-reporting if no
compensation are in place

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
Messages from the field
• Problems with simultaneous COVID and FMD
restrictions, social unrest, as well as lack of
funding have hampered the functionality of
veterinary services
– Implementing control measures
– Achieving sufficient vaccination coverage
– Monitoring the effectiveness and side-effects
of vaccines
– Other surveillance programs
• Cattle movements are difficult to control
• Local or cross-border trade
• Seasonal and communal grazing
• Contacts with feral/stray or wild cattle
• Cattle smuggling and theft
• Stamping out is not socially accepted, affordable or
illegal
• Vectors
• Rural farms have often poor/no biosecurity measures in
place
Better vaccination coverage

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
Cattle markets are hot spots for transmission
Only movement of vaccinated animals should be allowed 28 days
post-vaccination
• If or when no compensation is paid for culled animals, the infected animals are sent for
slaughter or sold on the cattle markets at a low price
• More surveillance needs to be done on cattle markets to gain a better understanding on the
scale of the problem and how it could be addressed

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
• Policy with stray cattle should be included in the LSD contingency plan
• Measures have to be designed on country/case-by-case basis
• Stamping out and movement restrictions not possible to implement in
real life
Contacts with infected free-roaming cattle
• Farmers need to protect domestic bovines by vaccination
• Minimize contacts with stray cattle
• If handling of feral animals is possible - monitor, treat the sick ones and
vaccinate others
• Funding must be available to cover the costs

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
Contacts with wild ruminants - Do we need to reconsider the role of wildlife in the epidemiology of LSD?
Importance of further
development of local, more
resistant cattle breeds

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
Using good vaccines and sufficient vaccination coverage is the only way to success
Who covers the costs of
vaccines and vaccination
Vaccinations in unsafe or
remote areas with logistic
problems
How to increase local
vaccine production
How to improve the effectiveness of
vaccination campaigns
Vaccination coverage, timing, some
practicalities
Lack of veterinary staff
Large cattle
population
Use of preventive vaccination in
high risk–areas
• Buffer zones between
infected and at risk regions
Vaccination zones are not
sufficiently large and do not
cover the anticipated cattle
movement target areas and
insect flying distance

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
Local vaccine production?
How could we to increase the vaccination coverage in a sustainable way?
No access to good quality
homologous vaccine seed
virus
Good manufacturing process
(GMP) vaccine
• Subcontracts with current vaccine manufacturers?
• Regional vaccine seed virus-bank - good quality, ready-attenuated vaccine seed virus for use local production in affected
countries, homologous or heterologous strains with prooven efficacy
• Vaccine quality assurance issue for local vaccine production
– International reference laboratories?
– Other institute? Example the African Union-PanVac that provides vaccine quality monitoring service
• Funding?

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
Duration of protection - Thermostability of the freeze dried vaccine - Vaccine vial size
Further research needed to support feasible and correct usage of vaccines in the field
Thermostability studies
Is the cold-chain really needed for the short distance transport of
the LSD vaccines in a freeze-dried format
Smaller vaccine vial sizes for small-holders
How long reconstituted vaccine can be kept in the fridge and can it
be used on the next day?

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
Use of community-based animal health workers (CAHWs)
Vaccination in remote hard-to-reach and conflict stricken regions
• Community participation
• Increased farmers acknowledge on best practice
• Increased herd/flock size
• Decreased number of outbreaks and mortality
• Opposition from vets
• Programming issues
• Opportunity for fraud to gain financial benefits
• Techincal problems, such as transport and good
vaccination hygiene
PROS CONS

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
Gaps in our understanding of LSD-related human behaviour and AMR issues
• Arthropological studies
− Farmers’ cooping mechanisms in case of LSD in their herd
− Traditions, religion, beliefs
− How livestock trade and cattle markets work in local settings
− Ethical problems and gender related issues
− Lack of trust and compensation related problems hampering for example stamping
out measure
− Improve communication
• Use of antimicrobials in case of outbreak in farms and slaughterhouses
– Common practice related to food safety

Lumpy Skin Disease – How science can support disease management and control, Rome, Italy, 14-16th of March 2023
• Tsviatko Alexandrov and Rodrigo Nova, EuFMD
• Andriy Rozstalnyy, NSAH, FAO
• Eyal Klement, Koret Vet School, Israel
FAO and EuFMD for organizing this meeting!
Aknowledgements
All Speakers
FLI - Institute of International Animal Health/One Health
• Sascha Knauf
• Klaas Dietze
• Anja Globig
• Klaus Depner
• And all the others

Protecting people, animals, and the environment every day
Drawings: FAO/Chiara Caproni
Thank you and I wish you all
an intresting, constructive
and creative symposium!