Gandhinagar, Jul 23 (IANS): Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) also known as Lumpy virus, has claimed lives of 977 cattle in Gujarat, state Agriculture Department said on Saturday.

Agriculture Department's Deputy Director (Animal Husbandry) Dr H. N. Modh told IANS: "The virus has spread in 14 districts, including all districts of Saurashtra region, Kutch and now Banaskantha. Checking of vehicles entering from Rajasthan and neighbouring states have been intensified to prevent infected cattle from entering the state. People living in border villages have been asked to inform the department if they see a cattle movement across the border."

Till Saturday afternoon, the state had lost 977 cattle, while some 33,561 are infected and undergoing treatment in 14 districts. A total of 2,48,189 cattle have been vaccinated, he added.

On July 19, Kutch District Development Officer Bhavya Verma had tweeted about the virus spreading in his district. Some 26,917 cattle were infected in the district, 81,633 vaccinated, and 1,14,079 vaccine doses used.

Virus spread is high in the district as it houses the highest domestic cattle population. According to the 20th livestock census, Kutch has 21 lakh animals, including 10.41 lakh bovines.

According to the Deputy Director, since Kutch is geographically the largest district of the state spread over 45,674 square kilometers, the cases here are higher as compared to other districts. In the remaining 11 districts, animal husbandry teams are working hard to vaccinate domestic cattle.