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%).