In response to lumpy skin disease, the French government has announced intensification of state support for monitoring activities and research programmes.

The strategy to combat the disease, which is based on current scientific knowledge, combines depopulation of infected areas, restrictions on movement and vaccination in regulated areas and vaccination zones, the government said.

The measures were announced recently by Minister of Agriculture, Agri-Food and Food Sovereignty, Annie Genevard, and Minister of Higher Education, Research and Space, Philippe Baptiste.

Four key areas

Research continues on this new disease, which appeared in mainland France last June.

"However, given the current state of the documentation, certain research areas can be rapidly explored to improve our understanding of the disease and to develop new control tools," the government's statement reads.

"Following discussions, the two ministers Annie Genevard and Philippe Baptiste pledged to intensify research against [lumpy skin disease] ​​in 2026, particularly on four areas where rapid results can be obtained."

The first area is strengthening the effectiveness of epizootic surveillance and vaccination capacity.

"Ongoing research conducted by the CIRAD National Reference Laboratory and by private laboratories, which has already yielded promising results, will be strengthened to lead to the development of new vaccines that allow for better tracking of the development of immunity in the animal's blood.

"Regarding unvaccinated animals that appear healthy, state support will allow for the continuation and deepening of scientific research aimed at improving the reliability of tests for detecting the disease in the blood of animals."

The second area is strengthening the diagnostic activities of the national reference laboratory.

Since the emergence of the disease in France, the national reference laboratory for viruses affecting ruminants, led by CIRAD, has been heavily mobilised, the government said.

The commitment of the two ministries alongside CIRAD will notably enable enhanced networking and monitoring through the deployment of diagnostics in more departmental laboratories.

It will allow for acceleration of validation of the performance of serological tests placed on the market, with a view to their accreditation.

Vectors

The third area is understanding the role of vectors and the dynamics of infection in cattle.

Knowledge about the behaviour of fly communities involved in the transmission of lumpy skin disease exists, but may sometimes be incomplete, the French government said.

Research will be intensified, particularly in the following areas: adapting management measures for vector control; consolidating the results of international work in order to improve infection monitoring tools; optimising virus surveillance in the environment (livestock, insects, effluents).

The fourth measure is developing decision-support tools for optimal management.

To date, no epidemio-economic model exists for lumpy skin disease in the western European context, the government said.

The work carried out will notably enable: modelling the spread of the virus within and between farms; simulate the health, operational and economic impacts of the measures; and anticipate prevention and control strategies for an optimal response.

To this end, the ministers announced the work of the research programme 'Sustainable Livestock Farming' and that of the National Research Agency is to prioritise the fight against lumpy skin disease.

The governance of the 'Sustainable Livestock Farming' met recently to formalise this new direction within the programme.

'Major threat'

Minister of Agriculture, Agri-Food and Food Sovereignty, Annie Genevard said that lumpy skin disease "represents a major threat to the French beef industry".

"By supporting enhanced surveillance, vaccine innovation, and research, I am committed to better protecting farms, limiting economic losses, and guaranteeing our country's food sovereignty.

"This financial investment in research and surveillance complements existing measures: full coverage of vaccination costs, health compensation, and emergency funding for the most economically vulnerable farms.”

Minister of Higher Education, Research and Space, Philippe Baptiste added that the fight against lumpy skin disease "relies on the excellence of our public research and on rapid, coordinated scientific mobilisation".