Epidemiological investigation of lumpy skin disease outbreaks in Bangladeshi cattle during 2019–2020

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an acute infectious viral disease of cattle with a wide distribution that emerged in Bangladesh in 2019, causing huge economic losses. This study was undertaken to investigate the epidemiological features of LSD emergence in nine districts of Bangladesh between December 2019 and December 2020. A total of 8215 cattle from 603 herds were investigated and LSD was diagnosed based on the characteristic clinical findings. A standard questionnaire was administered to collect herd‐level data including location, herd size, number of LSD‐infected cattle, number died due to LSD, farm type, season, house type, vector presence, sanitation and fly repellent use. Similarly, data on clinical signs, sex, age, animal class and breed of the LSD‐infected cattle were also recorded. The herd‐level attack risk (%) and mortality risk (%) were calculated based on the number of infected and dead cattle, respectively, as a proportion of total cattle. The herd‐level risk factors for LSD were identified using a multivariable Poisson regression model. The most common clinical signs were skin nodules (100%), fever (97.9%) and depression with anorexia and weight loss (97.9%). Crossbred (84.9%) and female (72.2%) cattle were mostly affected by LSD. The overall LSD attack risk, mortality risk and case fatality were 26.5%, 0.26% and 0.97%, respectively. The LSD attack risk was significantly higher in small herds (risk ratio: [RR] 1.39; 95% CI: 1.27; 1.53) than large herds. In addition, significantly higher LSD attack risk was observed in semi‐intensive management systems (RR = 1.29; 95% CI: 1.01; 1.64) than intensive management systems. Moreover, it was also significantly higher in hut (RR = 1.81; 95% CI: 1.12; 2.92), temporary (RR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.21; 2.17) and tin‐shed houses (RR = 1.29; 95% CI: 1.11; 1.51) than in semi‐building houses. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first detailed epidemiological study of LSD emergence in South Asia. Female crossbred cattle in small herds under semi‐intensive management should be prioritized for LSD surveillance and vaccination to prevent further outbreaks and control the impact of the disease in Bangladesh.