Clinico-Histopathological Findings and PCR Based Diagnosis of Lumpy Skin Disease in the Sultanate of Oman

Current report describes the clinical, histopathological and molecular diagnosis of lumpy skin disease (LSD) outbreak in the Sultanate of Oman during 2009. Outbreak was suspected on the basis of clinical picture in 13 cattle (n=201) farms belonging to Al-Batinah (7 holdings), Al-Dakhiliyah (2 holdings) and Ash Sharqiyah (4 holdings) regions. All suspected cases were clinically examined and a tentative diagnosis of LSD was made upon observation of classical signs. Morbidity and mortality rates were recorded as 27.9 and 5.5%, respectively. Apparent case fatality rate observed was 19.6%. Histopathological examination of the suspected skin biopsy samples revealed presence of ballooning degeneration and intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies characteristic of LSD. PCR reaction was carried out to confirm the presence of disease. Amplification of 221bp (base pair) PCR product from samples belonging to all 3 affected regions confirmed the presence of LSD virus DNA.