The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), in partnership with Bharat Biotech, has developed the world’s first vaccine for Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in cattle. The vaccine, named BIOLUMPIVAXIN, has officially received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), India’s drug regulatory authority.
BIOLUMPIVAXIN is the first Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals (DIVA) marker vaccine for LSD, a viral disease that affects cattle and Asian water buffaloes. The disease, transmitted by insects, leads to significant losses in milk production and has caused considerable economic hardship for farmers.
Lumpy Skin Disease was first identified in India in July 2019, in Odisha, and rapidly spread to 20 states by the end of 2020. The outbreak posed a serious threat to India’s vast cattle population, which is essential to the nation’s dairy industry. India, home to 303 million cattle and buffaloes, is the world’s largest producer of milk, contributing over 22% to global milk production. The disease has led to the deaths of nearly 200,000 cattle and has diminished milk production for millions more.
The new vaccine has undergone rigorous testing at the ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE) in Hisar and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI). These trials ensured the vaccine’s quality, safety, and effectiveness, meeting global standards. Developed using the LSD virus/Ranchi/2019 strain, the vaccine was produced through a collaboration between ICAR-NRCE and Bharat Biotech’s Biovet.
Dr. Krishna Ella, Founder of Biovet, a Bharat Biotech group company, highlighted the vaccine’s significance for India’s self-reliance in veterinary healthcare. “The CDSCO licensure for this vaccine is a major step toward reducing dependency on imported vaccines,” he said.
The vaccine will soon be commercially available in freeze-dried form, with stabilizing agents for long-term storage. A separate diluent will be supplied for reconstitution before use.
Lumpy Skin Disease, which was first discovered in Zambia in 1929, has since spread across Africa, the Middle East, Southeastern Europe, Central Asia, and, more recently, South Asia and China. The approval of BIOLUMPIVAXIN marks a milestone in the fight against this economically devastating disease.
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