India has developed its own vaccine against lumpy skin disease in cattle

In a major breakthrough, two Indian Institutes of Agricultural Research, ICAR, have developed a local vaccine against lumpy skin disease in cattle, which has spread throughout the country over the past few months. Veterinary Research (IVRI).

The government plans to commercialize this "Lumpi-ProVacInd" vaccine as soon as possible to control lumpy skin disease that has led to cattle deaths in six states.

As of 8 August, 2111 cattle deaths due to lumpy skin disease have been reported in Rajasthan, followed by Gujarat (1679), Punjab (672), Himachal Pradesh (38), Andaman and Nicobar (29) and Uttarakhand (26).

“Scientists have been making efforts to develop this vaccine since an outbreak of lumpy skin disease was first reported in Odisha in 2019. The vaccine is now in production and we will now move forward to ensure that this vaccine reaches farmers who have cattle,” said Fisheries, Livestock and Dairy Minister Parshottam Rupala.

He emphasized that the spread of lumpy skin disease has become a serious problem, therefore, although there is a protocol for the commercialization of vaccines, the livestock department of the Ministry of Agriculture will think about how it can be accelerated. The cost per dose will be 1-2 rupees, and immunity induced by homologous live attenuated lumpy skin vaccines usually lasts for at least one year.

Sheep pox virus (SPV) and goat pox virus (GPV) vaccine (heterologous vaccine) is generally approved in India to induce cross protection against lumpy skin disease in bovine animals when a homologous vaccine is not available.

However, heterologous vaccines provide partial protection and are not as effective as homologous vaccines.

Scientists at NRCE isolated the virus in 2019 itself and have been developing a live homologous vaccine ever since. Experimental tests were carried out on cows and buffaloes of all age groups, including lactating and pregnant animals.

Lumpy skin disease is primarily a disease of cattle, although it can cause disease in camels, deer, and horses.

"Because of its recent spread to non-natural hosts, there is growing concern about zoonotic consequences, although there is no supporting evidence of LSD in humans from livestock," ICAR said in a statement.