ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
Rather Izhar Ul Haq1, Amatul Muhee1, Oveas Raffiq Parray1, Junaid Ahmad Bhat1, Majid Shafi Kawoosa2, Suhail Nabi Magray3, Sabia Qureshi4, Riyaz Ahmed Bhat1, Raja Aijaz Ahmad1, Ubaid Farooq1, Muzamil Abdullah5 and Mohd. Iqbal Yatoo1
1Division of Veterinary Clinical Complex, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry Shuhama, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, India.
2Division of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry Shuhama, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, India.
3Division of Animal Biotechnology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry Shuhama, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, India.
4Division of Veterinary Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry Shuhama, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, India.
5Division of Livestock Production and Management, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry Shuhama, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, India.
Article Number: 9401 | © The Author(s). 2024
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2024;18(3):1807-1823. https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.18.3.29
Received: 22 March 2024 | Accepted: 27 June 2024 | Published online: 19 August 2024
Issue online: September 2024
Abstract

India is facing a new wave of Lumpy skin disease outbreaks since May 2022, spreading in more than 22 states and causing morbidity to more than 29 lakh animals and mortality to more than 2 lakh animals. Lack of specific antiviral treatment restores symptomatic therapeutic interventions. However, in the advent of large no. of cases and severity of disease, investigations on specific antiviral drugs are imperative. This scientific study was conducted on a group of LSD-affected cattle (n = 40) from the trans-Himalayan region of Kashmir (Jammu and Kashmir). The affected cattle were subjected to different treatments, including acyclovir (n = 27), symptomatic treatment (n = 7), and ivermectin (n = 6), along with supportive drugs. The animals were carefully monitored and compared both within and between groups at various intervals (0-96 hr) using a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Significant (P ≤ 0.05) improvement in regaining rectal temperature, respiration rate, and heart rate was noted 48 hours after treatment in a group of LSD-affected animals (n = 27) treated with acyclovir at a dose rate of 1 mg/kg body weight (small cattle) to 1.5 mg/kg (large cattle) intravenously in 500 ml normal saline along with supportive drugs including enrofloxacin (2.5 mg/kg), combination of meloxicam (0.25 mg/kg) and paracetamol (7.5 mg/kg) and pheniramine maleate (0.5 mg/kg) all intramuscularly, compared to group of LSD affected cattle (n = 6) treated with ivermectin (0.2 mg/kg subcutaneously) and supportive drugs and another group of LSD affected cattle (n = 7) treated symptomatically with only supportive drugs. Acyclovir treated group showed a significant (P ≤ 0.05) decrease in total leucocyte count, lymphocyte, and basophil count from 0 hour to 96 hour of treatment (23.00 ± 0.534 to 5.59 ± 0.208; 13.97 ± 0.310 to 3.43 ± 0.126; 0.11 ± 0.003 to 0.03 ± 0.001 respectively). Significant (P ≤  0.05) decrease in total oxidative status (TOS: 73.31%) and increase in total antioxidant status (TAS: 59.9%) was observed in acyclovir treated group followed by ivermectin treated group (TOS: 68.05% and TAS: 27.16%) compared to symptomatically treated group (TOS: 42.41% and TAS: 18.75%). Acyclovir being comparatively more specific antiviral agent than ivermectin may have helped in amelioration of clinical severity and regaining of normal physiological, hematological, and oxidative indices in LSD-affected animals. The current study demonstrates expedited recovery, diminished clinical severity, and re-establishment of physiological, hematological and oxidative markers in animals subjected to acyclovir treatment, followed by animals administered with ivermectin, when compared to animals receiving symptomatic treatment. However, further studies are required to investigate safety or adverse effects, if any.

Keywords

Acyclovir, Antiviral, Cattle, lvermectin, Lumpy Skin Disease, Treatment, Virus

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© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.