In an ever-changing global environment, under the pressure of climate change and the movement of people and goods over long distances, the emergence of animal diseases in previously unaffected areas is no longer an exceptional event. Lumpy Skin Disease is an example: it entered continental Europe for the first time in 2015, turning into a regional crisis involving many countries in the Balkan Peninsula in less than a year. This special EMPRES issue looks at its epidemiology and diagnostics, and presents a range of approaches for controlling the disease.