Lumpy skin disease detected for the first time in Ain, cattle in the contaminated area will be slaughtered

The Ain prefecture announced in a press release on Sunday, August 24, the discovery and subsequent confirmation of an outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) on a cattle farm in the department. This is the first time that this region has been affected by this disease, which is not transmissible to humans but serious for cattle, zebus, and buffalo, since its appearance in France in June.

The DNC was detected by government services in a summer pasture in the east of the department. The movement of cattle present in the mountain pasture is now prohibited and all animals "belonging to the contaminated area must be slaughtered in the coming days," writes the prefecture. The prefect of Ain, Chantal Mauchet, expresses in the same text "her support for the breeders [whose animals are] affected by the disease."

To stop the spread of DNC, transmitted via biting insects, the State launched a vast vaccination campaign on July 18th, involving 310,000 cattle in the two Savoy departments as well as in the neighboring departments of Ain and Isère.

A viral disease, the pathology leads to "significant production losses" that can lead to "the death of a portion of the infected herd" (around 10%), according to the Ministry of Agriculture. The disease causes fever, a drop in lactation, enlarged lymph nodes, and nodules on the skin and mucous membranes.

This epizootic is a severe blow to livestock farming in France, following a year 2024 marked by the resurgence of epizootic hemorrhagic disease and bluetongue. The country has the largest cattle herd in the European Union (around 16.3 million head), but this has declined faster than sheep and goat herds in recent years due to a lack of labor and income.