The First Lumpy Skin Disease Outbreak in Thailand (2021): Epidemiological Features and Spatio-Temporal Analysis.

Noppawan Buamithup,Issara Punyawan,Chalutwan Sansamur,Ponkrit Uttarak,Supawadee Liangchaisiri,Orapun Arjkumpa,Chaiwat Sansri,Veerasak Punyapornwithaya,Minta Suwannaboon,Chayanun Lapchareonwong,Patchariya Laobannue,Noppasorn Kuatako,Pawares Panyasomboonying,Manoch Boonrod

doi:10.3389/fvets.2021.799065

Abstract

The first outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in Thailand was reported in March 2021, but information on the epidemiological characteristics of the outbreak is very limited. The objectives of this study were to describe the epidemiological features of LSD outbreaks and to identify the outbreak spatio-temporal clusters. The LSD-affected farms located in Roi Et province were investigated by veterinary authorities under the outbreak response program. A designed questionnaire was used to obtain the data. Space-time permutation (STP) and Poisson space-time (Poisson ST) models were used to detect areas of high LSD incidence. The authorities identified 293 LSD outbreak farms located in four different districts during the period of March and the first week of April 2021. The overall morbidity and mortality of the affected cattle were 40.5 and 1.2%, respectively. The STP defined seven statistically significant clusters whereas only one cluster was identified by the Poisson ST model. Most of the clusters (n = 6) from the STP had a radius <7 km, and the number of LSD cases in those clusters varied in range of 3–51. On the other hand, the most likely cluster from the Poisson ST included LSD cases (n = 361) from 198 cattle farms with a radius of 17.07 km. This is the first report to provide an epidemiological overview and determine spatio-temporal clusters of the first LSD outbreak in cattle farms in Thailand. The findings from this study may serve as a baseline information for future epidemiological studies and support authorities to establish effective control programs for LSD in Thailand.

Highlights

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an emerging viral disease that is known to affect cattle in several regions of Africa [1,2,3], Europe [4], and Asia [5, 6]
The objectives of this study were (i) to describe the epidemiology of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in outbreak farms including clinical features of the LSD affected cattle, temporal trends of the LSD outbreaks and farm management practices related to the LSD prevention and controls, and (ii) to determine the LSD outbreak spatio-temporal clusters based on the outbreak investigation data regarding the first outbreak of LSD in Thailand
All the LSD affected farms were cattle farms located in Selaphum (n = 112), At Samat (n = 125), Thung Khao Luang (n = 52), and Panom Phrai (n = 4) (Figure 1) and were operated by smallholder farmers living in rural communities

Summary

Introduction

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an emerging viral disease that is known to affect cattle in several regions of Africa [1,2,3], Europe [4], and Asia [5, 6]. It is caused by lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), which belongs to the genus Capripoxvirus of the family Poxviridae [7]. It has been revealed that the mortality and morbidity rates of LSD in cattle raised in naïve herds are typically greater than those raised in endemic settings [14]. The main route of LSDV transmission is driven by arthropod vectors such as mosquitoes [14], ticks [15, 16], and stable flies [16,17,18,19]

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