Research Progress in Genomics of Lumpy Skin Disease Virus

Lumpy skin disease(LSD) is an animal infectious disease caused by Lumpy Skin Disease Virus(LSDV) that produces nodular lesions in cattle, and is widespread in East, South and Southeast Asian countries, causing serious economic losses to the local cattle industry. Currently, LSD is managed as a second-class animal disease in China. Since 2019, more than ten provinces in China have reported LSD epidemics, whose situation is very serious. At present, the superior cell for LSDV isolation and proliferation is Madin-Darby bovine kidney(MDBK). As a member of the Goat Pox Virus genus of the Poxviridae family, LSDV has a virus particle diameter about 290 nm × 270 nm, with two existence forms. The viral genome is complex and huge, about 151 kb, and contains more than 150 genes. Currently, only approximately 40 LSDV strains containing the whole genome sequence information are stored in the GenBank database. In addition to field wild strains, recombinant strains of field wild strains and vaccine strains have also emerged in some parts of Asia in recent years, and the prevalent recombinant strains are pathogenic, which poses new challenges for development of vaccine and preparation of prevention and control strategies for LSD in the future. The study mainly summarizes the etiology of LSD and the progress in the genome-wide study of LSDV strains in different regions of Africa, Europe and Asia, with a view to providing references for the prevention and control of LSD and further researches.