ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Veterinary and Zoonotic Infection
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1596973
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in ruminant virusesView all 3 articles
MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND SPATIOTEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF LUMPY SKIN DISEASE OUTBREAKS IN CATTLE FROM KARNATAKA, INDIA
Provisionally accepted
Manjunatha Reddy Gundallahalli Bayyappa*
Chandana Ramesh Uma
Shraddha Bijalwan
SUNIL TADAKOD
Sudeep Nagaraj
Megha Naragund
Mounica Sai Pabbineedi
Chethan Harlipura BasavarajappaBaldev Raj Gulati*- National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology And Disease Informatics (ICAR), Bengaluru, India
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Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD), a re-emerging transboundary disease of cattle, has severely impacted India's livestock population. This study, utilizing advanced spatial and molecular tools, elucidates the spatiotemporal dynamics and molecular epidemiology of LSD in Karnataka, along with the risk factor analysis with over 1,353 different types of samples from 451 suspected cases screened during 2021-2024. Among the analyzed samples, scabs showed the highest positivity rate at 83.6%, followed by nasal swabs at 80.9%, and blood samples at 76.9%, underscoring the utility of nasal swabs as a simple and effective non-invasive clinical sample for diagnosis and clinical surveillance. Spatial analysis conducted with QGIS (v3.32.2) and GeoDa (v1.22) identified strong spatial autocorrelation and consistent clustering of cases in densely populated livestock areas, driven by environmental factors and mechanical vectors, including blood-feeding arthropods like flies (Stomoxys calcitrans, Haematobia irritans) and ticks (Rhipicephalus and Amblyomma species). Vaccination campaigns achieved near 100% coverage in most districts by 2022, substantially reducing LSD-related mortality rate from 1.45% to negligible levels in 2024. Risk factor analysis identified cattle aged 1 to 5 years and females as most susceptible, with exotic breeds exhibiting 2.1-2.6 times higher odds of infection than indigenous breeds. Molecular studies unveiled a genetically stable lumpy skin disease virus strain unique to Karnataka, consistent with the low mutation rate of DNA viruses. These findings emphasize that, despite vaccination success, persistent hotspots and vulnerable cattle groups remain. Therefore, regionspecific strategies such as targeted vector control, robust molecular surveillance, and GIS-based early outbreak alerts are necessary for LSD control in endemic regions. This study highlights how the integration of combining molecular diagnostics, epidemiological modeling, and spatial analytics can strengthen LSD surveillance and redefine disease control strategies, ultimately mitigating its socioeconomic impact.
Keywords: Cattle, diagnosis, Epidemiology, Lumpy Skin Disease, Risk factors, Spatial clustering, Vaccination
Received: 20 Mar 2025; Accepted: 02 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bayyappa, Uma, Bijalwan, TADAKOD, Nagaraj, Naragund, Pabbineedi, Basavarajappa and Gulati. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Manjunatha Reddy Gundallahalli Bayyappa, National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology And Disease Informatics (ICAR), Bengaluru, India
Baldev Raj Gulati, National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology And Disease Informatics (ICAR), Bengaluru, India
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