The Catalan government confirmed this Wednesday a third outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD, the disease that affects cattle) on a farm in Castelló d'Empúries. This brings the number of farms affected by the virus to three in Catalonia, all in the Alt Empordà region. Furthermore, the Catalan government's Department of Agriculture announced that it is postponing the start of animal vaccinations scheduled for this Wednesday by one day, until Thursday, due to problems with vaccine delivery.

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) has put the entire Catalan livestock sector on alert, and by extension, public administrations, especially the Generalitat (Catalan government) and the Spanish government, which this Wednesday began vaccinating some 90,000 cattle in the Girona region. This disease seriously affects cattle—that is, cows, bulls, oxen, and calves—and is highly contagious among these mammals, but has no effect on the health of humans or other animal species.

A second outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD), detected this past Monday A recent outbreak on a farm in Peralada (Alt Empordà) has forced the slaughter of all 270 dairy cows. This is the second farm where all livestock has been slaughtered to prevent the spread of the NCD virus. In light of these events, the Catalan government has approved a €4 million package to compensate the affected farmers for their losses while it prepares to begin vaccinating livestock on all farms within a 50-kilometer radius of the first outbreak this Wednesday.