In an ever changing global environment, under the pressure of climate change and movements of people, goods and animals over long distances, the invasion of new and emerging animal diseases, in areas where they never occurred before, is no longer an exceptional event.

Vector-borne diseases, in particular, hold a prominent place in the list of these “newcomers”. Their mode of transmission (arthropods) greatly reduces the potential for intervention by veterinary authorities.

Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) is a typical example of such an “exotic” disease that entered continental Europe for the first time in 2015. Within less than a year, it turned into a regional crisis involving many countries in the Balkan peninsula.

There are several lessons learnt from the incursion of LSD in Europe. For this reason, FAO-Emergency Prevention System for Animal Health (EMPRES-AH) has recently published a special issue on Lumpy Skin disease (LSD).

In this issue the tools to tackle new challenges on LSD are reported in details.

The contents are:

The disease

• Epidemiology of Lumpy Skin Disease.
• Diagnostic assays for the detection of Lumpy Skin Disease virus and antibodies
• Current Knowledge about Vaccination against Lumpy Skin Disease.

Epidemiological situation

• Lumpy Skin Disease: Situation, surveillance and control activities in Turkey
• Lumpy Skin Disease in Greece: A European approach to management of the disease
• Emergence of Lumpy Skin Disease in Bulgaria: epidemiological situation, control and eradication
• Experience of the veterinary service of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia with the occurrence of Lumpy Skin disease in 2016
• Lumpy Skin Disease epidemics in Albania
• Lumpy Skin Disease in Kosovo, 2016
• Successful Control of Lumpy Skin Disease of Cattle in Montenegro during 2016
• Enemy Approaching: the Austrian Veterinary Authority prepares for Lumpy Skin Disease.

Coordination: Regional and international intervention and cooperation

• Ad-hoc expert meeting on Lumpy Skin Disease in the Balkans
• Lumpy Skin Disease: Country situation and capacity reports
• Lumpy Skin Disease in south-eastern Europe. The response of the European Union
• Lumpy Skin Disease epidemics in Europe: Improving cooperation for controlling transboundary livestock diseases
• Evaluation of vaccines against Lumpy Skin Disease using an optimized infection model: preliminary results
• Surveillance and control of Lumpy Skin Disease: a challenge affecting three continents.

News

• The FAO response to the threat of Lumpy Skin Disease in the Balkans and the Caucasus.

The document can be view and downloaded at the following address:

http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7982e.pdf

Reference: FAO. 2017. EMPRES-Animal Health 360, No. 47. Rome.