Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an emerging viral disease, particularly of cattle and water buffalo. The disease is caused by lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), a member of the genus Capripoxvirus of family Poxviridae which is manifested by characteristic skin nodules, pyrexia, lachrymation, nasal discharge, and swelling of superficial lymph nodes. Lumpy skin disease causes huge economic losses to the livestock farmers due to significant milk loss, damage of the hides, and reproductive problems such as abortion and infertility in affected animals. Initially, LSD was confined to Africa but later spread to Asia and Europe, particularly after 2012. This article describes the spatial and temporal patterns of LSD outbreaks that occurred from 2005-Mid-September, 2020 using the publicly available outbreak data from the World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). There were 3118 LSD outbreaks reported in the last 15 years with 2265 (72.6%) from Europe, 462 from Asia (14.8%), and 391(12.5%) outbreaks from Africa. 3070 (98.46%) of the total outbreaks during the study period occurred since 2012, with the highest month-wise outbreaks observed in July (778) and seasonally in the summer season (1873) which corresponds with the vector season. Since 2012, around 3 (2.78) new countries per year are being affected by LSD. The current situation of LSD spread demands for globally coordinated efforts to control this transboundary disease. Effective surveillance for early detection, vector control measures, vaccination, and regulation of animal movement is necessary to curb down the further spread of LSD.

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a vector-borne viral disease affecting cattle and water buffalo. This disease causes huge economic losses to dairy farmers due to the drastic reduction in milk production. This study describes the first confirmed outbreak of LSD in cattle and water buffalo from the Gandaki province of Nepal. Suspected outbreak sites in Kaski and Tanahun district of Gandaki Province were visited and 42 samples from 16 animals (12 cattle and 4 water buffalo) from 9 farms showing clinical signs were sampled and tested for LSD at the Central Veterinary Laboratory using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Clinical features exhibited by affected animals and their farm characteristics were recorded. The result showed that all 16 animals were positive for LSD. The overall morbidity was 4.85% (95% CI= 3.01- 7.73%) with cattle (7.23%) having higher morbidity compared to water buffaloes (2.44%). However, none of the affected animals died. In total, 93.7% (n= 15/16) of the affected animals had a milk loss with an average milk reduction of 58.7%. The major clinical features observed were swollen lymph nodes (100%), nasal and lachrymal discharge (81.25%), nodular lesions in skin (75%), and fever (50%). Vectors were present in all 9 farms and 5 out of 9 farms had a history of the introduction of new animals. In conclusion, this is the first official confirmation of LSD in the Gandaki province of Nepal. As the potential socio-economic impact of this is high due to the loss of milk production, the Gandaki province government in collaboration with the federal government should develop an appropriate control strategy including vaccination. We suggest government to practice risk-based ring vaccination in susceptible cattle and buffaloes surrounding the confirmed cases. Besides, cattle and buffalo movement need to be regulated. Keywords: Capripoxvirus; Large ruminants; Outbreak investigation; Vector; Vaccines