French Farmers Protest Government’s Response to Lumpy Skin Disease
Farmers have been mobilizing for several days in multiple French departments, protesting the government’s health strategy against lumpy skin disease (LSD), particularly the policy of systematic culling of infected herds.
Despite ongoing farmer protests against the state’s strategy to halt the spread of LSD in cattle farms,the Ministry of Agriculture remains firm. Slaughtering entire herds is “the only solution” to “save the entire beef industry,” stated Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard this Friday, asserting that “the current protocol works.”
Farmer mobilizations against the government’s handling of LSD have disrupted several French departments, with the Southwest region taking the lead. Supported by organizations like Rural Coordination and the Peasant Confederation, protestors denounce a health protocol they deem ineffective and unfair. The core of the tension lies in the total “depopulation” – the slaughter of all animals – whenever a case of the disease is detected within a herd.
Asymptomatic Animals
Transmitted between animals by blood-sucking insects like horseflies, this viral disease affects cows, buffalo, and zebus. It was first detected in France at the beginning of summer on a farm in the Savoy region, and has since spread to other farms. Long-distance transmission, perhaps facilitated by the road transport of cattle, has contributed to the spread beyond the initial outbreaks. Highly contagious, severe cases of LSD can lead to animal death.
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