Efficacy of lumpy skin disease vaccines in cattle: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a viral disease caused by the lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV). Research on LSD vaccines has shown promising results in reducing both the incidence and severity of the disease. This article evaluates the efficacy of LSD vaccines in cattle and provides evidence-based recommendations. A comprehensive search of bibliographic databases yielded 125 articles, of which 18 studies involving two types of vaccines were selected for data extraction based on a defined protocol. The overall risk of bias assessment indicated a high risk in articles reporting virus neutralization titer (VNT) data (n = 3, 23.1 %) and some concerns in articles reporting LSD clinical sign outcomes (n = 6, 54.5 %). The meta-analysis compared VNT outcomes and LSD clinical signs between vaccinated and control animals. The pooled odds ratio for VNT-negative results in vaccinated versus non-vaccinated groups was 0.02 (95 % CI: 0.01-0.07), indicating minimal heterogeneity and low variability between studies (I2 = 0 %, p = 0.67). Similarly, the pooled odds ratio for LSD clinical signs after virus challenge was 0.06 (95 % CI: 0.02-0.23) with moderate heterogeneity observed (I2 = 49 %, p = 0.05). These findings highlight a significant trend favoring the vaccinated group, with higher VNT positivity and fewer clinical signs of LSD following a virus challenge.