Host transcriptome profiling of the Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) for resilience and susceptibility

Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) is an endemic viral infection in Africa, newly emerging in Europe and becoming a global threat. There is host variation in response to infections in field studies and under carefully controlled artificial infections. It's sometimes around 50% in clinical trials. This study aims to understand the mechanisms underlying this diversity and find the determinants to distinguish between susceptible (recovered) and resistant (non-recovered) animals through Differential Gene Expression (DGE) analysis. Five approximately 6-month-old male Holstein bulls were experimentally infected with LSDV. RNA sequencing was done for whole blood samples collected five days prior (pre-infection) to 3, 7, and 15 days after the infection (post-infection) challenge. After the challenge, two animals recovered, and three did not.