Lumpy skin disease outbreaks in Europe

02 January 2026

An image showing cattle in a shed

By Kate Adams, Senior European Policy Advisor

212 outbreaks of Lumpy Skin Disease have been reported in Italy (80) and France (115) and Spain (17). 

What is LSD?

LSD is a highly contagious vector-borne viral disease that primarily affects cattle, water buffaloes and certain wild ruminants. Affected animals typically exhibit sudden fever, nodular skin lesions, as well as swollen lymph nodes. Other common symptoms include nasal and eye discharge, loss of appetite, general weakness and a decline in milk production. Although not a threat to human health, the disease can lead to significant losses in both animals and production.

LSD is transmitted via insects such as biting flies and mosquitoes. Transmission from animal to animal plays a minor role. Movement of infected animals to free areas is mostly responsible for long-distance spread.

Europe’s first case of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in years was reported in Italy on 21 June 2025. Detected on the island of Sardinia, the disease was identified following reports of clinical symptoms. The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) outlines that while the source of infection is inconclusive, it is likely from infected insects.

Since the initial infection, Sardinia has reported 79 outbreaks. The outbreaks are geographically clustered. WOAH outlines that genotyping shows the virus circulating in Italy is closely related to cluster 1.2, which includes strains isolated in Nigeria and South Africa. The rate of new infections has declined over the winter months.

1 farm in Lombardy (Northern Italy) has also reported infection with LSD. The positive animal was sent from the originally infected holding in Sardinia. However, the virus is not actively circulating in Northern Italy. 

Following detection in Italy, France reported its first infection with LSD on a farm in Chambèry, the Savoy region, on 23 June. According to WOAH, the source of infection is unknown. Over recent months, the number of outbreaks has increased to 115, spread across 11 departments (regions) of France: Savoie (32), Haute-Savoie (44), Ain (3), Rhône (1), Jura (7), Pyrénées-Orientales (22), Doubs (1), Ariège (1) and Hautes-Pyrénées (1), Haute-Garonne (2), Aude (1).

On 1 October 2025, Spain confirmed its first outbreak of LSD on a cattle farm in Girona. Since this initial infection, Spain has reported infection across 17 farms in the region. The last confirmed infection was on 27 October 2025. 

Cattle are being vaccinated in all 3 countries in attempt to control the disease. 

This page was first published on 08 July 2025. It was updated on 02 January 2026.

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