A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed for commercial production of the indigenously developed Goat Pox vaccine “Lumpi-ProVac” in the presence of Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (FAHD) Parshottam Rupala on Thursday, an official release said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis were also present at the signing of the MoU.
Union Minister Rupala while speaking at the event called the vaccine a “game changer” in the ongoing effort of the government to control and eradicate the Lumpy Skin Disease.
Lumpi-ProVac is used for the prophylactic immunization of animals against Lumpy Skin Disease, which illicit protection for about one year. Rupala also hailed the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and said that the effort put forth by ICAR in developing an indigenous vaccine Lumpi-ProVac for LSD is commendable.
“This MoU will also ensure large-scale production of the Goat Pox vaccine for the future needs of India’s livestock sector,” he said.
At present, the Goat Pox vaccine is used for controlling Lumpy Skin Disease in animals and this has been proven effective against Lumpy. Union Minister Rupala further highlighted the relevance of the technology and requested the IVBP, Pune to start manufacturing the vaccine at a large scale without any delay so as to make the vaccine available for use by the department for the help of the farmers by overcoming the disease.
National Centre for Veterinary Type Culture, ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE), Hisar (Haryana), in collaboration with ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar (UP) developed a homologous live-attenuated LSD vaccine, named Lumpi-ProVacInd.
Agrinnovate India Limited (AgIn), the commercial arm of DARE, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India granted “Non-Exclusive Rights” for Commercial production of “Lumpi-ProVac”, to the Institute of Veterinary Biological Products (IVBP), Pune on Thursday.
“Lumpi-ProVacind is safe in animals and induces LSDV-specific antibody-and cell-mediated immune response, besides providing complete protection against lethal LSDV challenge. Lumpi-ProVacind is used for the prophylactic immunization of animals against Lumpy Skin,” the statement said.
“Disease, which illicit protection for about one year. A single dose of the vaccine contains 103.5 TCID50 of live-attenuated LSDV (Ranchi strain). The vaccine is stored at 4°C. The vaccine must be shipped on ice and must be used within a few hours after reconstitution. The patent has been filed by the ICAR for the technology,” it further said.
The Lumpy Skin Disease has been reported in India since 2019 while the first case was reported in the state of Odisha. After that, it spread to multiple states in the country.
In 2019, the death of a large number of cattle has been reported from different states with high morbidity, especially in the North-West region of the country.
The disease has been controlled and contained with the available Goatpox vaccine in the country. Considering the heavy production losses and mortality of a sizable number of cattle, ICAR initiated research on the development of an indigenous homologous vaccine against Lumpy Skin Disease.
