3.2 Pathological observations:
Out of 66 clinical cases, 46 cattle (69.7%) showed generalized skin nodules and papules of various sizes ranged from 0.5 cm to 6.5 cm located all over the body particularly, neck, head, face, nose, tail, perineum and udder (Fig. 1A). Twenty showed few small patchy nodules at the neck region, lumbar and face region. The number of nodules varied from few to more than a hundred based on the severity of the disease. These subcutaneous nodules were round, circumscribed, firm and raised above the skin and diffusely present on the body (Fig. 1B) . In severe cases, these nodules were ruptured, and whitish-grey serous fluid was oozing out of lesions. In few cases, nodules at the vulva, perineum and hindquarters were ruptured leading to ulcers and suppurative wounds (Fig. 1C) . The prescapular lymph nodes were enlarged in nineteen cases (19/66, 38%). Edema of the ventral body parts of the body (brisket edema) and legs was consistent in some cases. Nasal and ocular discharge, conjunctivitis and salivation were noticed in all the animals. Lameness was observed due to severe edema and pustular lesions on the feet of affected animals (Fig. 1D) .
Microscopic lesions observed in the skin nodules includes hyperkeratosis (46, 69.7%), diffuse granulomatous reaction in dermis and epidermis (39, 59%) (Fig. 1E) , focal to diffuse vasculitis and lymphangitis in dermis and epidermis (39, 59%) (Fig. 1F) , spongiosis (34, 51.5%), vacuolar degeneration of epithelial cells (15, 22.7%) and acanthosis (12, 18%) (Fig. 1G) . The inflammatory cell types were mainly comprised of macrophages, neutrophils, lymphocytes and eosinophils along with diffuse coagulative necrosis and infarction in blood vessels in the dermis (15.1%) (Fig. 1H) . The characteristic eosinophilic intracytoplasmic viral inclusions in keratinocytes and epithelial cells were observed in 2 (3.03%) cases which were a pathognomonic feature of LSDV infection (Table 3) .