Nagpur: A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for production of Goat Pox vaccine and “Lumpi-ProVac” vaccine for lumpy disease among cattle was signed in Nagpur on December 29 in the presence of Union fishery and animal husbandry minister Parshottam Rupala and Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde.
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 Institute of Veterinary Biological Products (IVBP), Pune.
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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 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.
The lumpy skin disease has been reported in India from 2019 while first case was reported in the state of Odisha. After that, it has spread to multiple states in the country. In 2019, death of a large number of cattle has been reported from different states with high morbidity especially in 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 sizable number of cattle, ICAR initiated research on development of indigenous homologous vaccine against lumpy skin disease.
Rupala praised the commendable effort put forth by ICAR in developing indigenous vaccine Lumpi-ProVac for LSD. He further said that this MoU will also ensure large-scale production of Goat Pox vaccine for future needs of India’s livestock sector. At present Goat Pox vaccine is used for controlling lumpy skin disease in animals and this has been proven effective against lumpy.
