Stage set for commercial production of goat pox vaccine Lumpi-ProVac

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in this regard in the presence of Union Minister Parshottam Rupala on Thursday, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying said in a statement. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis were also present at the signing of the MoU.

The vaccine is used for controlling lumpy skin disease in animals.

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.

The minister further highlighted the relevance of the technology and requested the IVBP, Pune to start manufacturing the vaccine at large scale without any delay so as to make the vaccine available for the 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. The disease has been controlled and contained with the 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.