Lumpy skin disease has returned to Sardinia: an outbreak of Lumpy Skin Disease, the terrible bovine disease, has been detected in the Muravera countryside.

The case is listed in the National Veterinary Epidemiological Bulletin. The suspicion and confirmation date back to yesterday, April 14th. A herd of 148 animals is affected: five are sick, four have died (and have been destroyed).

The nightmare returns: the previous epidemic had led to a halt in the movement of livestock and a halt to exports. A period of months, until last January, during which a massive (and controversial) vaccination campaign had been launched to eradicate the disease from the island. Hundreds of livestock had been culled.

It was thought the nightmare was over. Now fears in the countryside are skyrocketing again, while we wait to understand whether the disease was imported and under what conditions the outbreak occurred.