Detection of lumpy skin disease virus in skin lesions, blood, nasal swabs and milk following preventive vaccination.

Lumpy skin disease caused by Capripoxvirus is at the moment the most important threat to European cattle industry. The only way for successful control of disease is fast and efficient diagnosis and vaccination. According to EU legislation, vaccination against LDS can be conducted only after confirmation of the disease. Croatia has a special position regarding LSD-in 2016, for the first-time vaccination of the entire cattle population was conducted without an index case. The presence of vaccine viral particles was detected in milk, skin nodules, blood and nasal swabs in seven from total of eight herds. The presence of virus genome was detected in five cows from 10 up to 21-day post-vaccination. The virus was successfully isolated on cell culture from 10 up to 21-day post-vaccination from three animals. The obtained results support the need for further efforts to develop safer vaccines against LSDV.