3.1 Clinical infection and morbidity:
The major clinical findings observed in affected animals includes fever (upto 105oF), inappetence and drastic reduction in milk yield with lacrimation, nasal discharge, superficial lymph node enlargement, localized/generalized subcutaneous nodules, leg edema and pustular lesions in feet with lameness. The overall morbidity of LSDV infection in both backyard and organized dairy farms (n=30) was 4.48% (66/1471) with no mortality (Table 2). The cattle in backyard farms showed higher morbidity (91.6%) and the risk factors were attributed to limited floor space and close contact with infected animals. In organized farms, though the number of susceptible animals was more, however, early detection of clinical signs and timely separation of affected animals by farmers resulted in lower morbidity (3.17%).