India develops new Vaccine to control Swine Fever

The ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research)’s Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) has developed cell culture Classical Swine Fever vaccine.

Significance

The vaccine will help to save several rabbits. This is because the current vaccine called the Lapinised CSF (Classical Swine Fever) being used is produced by sacrificing large number of rabbits.

The new vaccine invented gives immunity for 2 years as compared to the previous vaccines that provided immunity for 3 to 6 months.

Need

The deadly fever in pigs contribute to 10% of the country’s total meat production. The CSF is one of the deadliest diseases of pigs that is causing loss of Rs 400 crores to India annually. It is also one of the reasons for the swine population to decline in 2019 as compared to the previous census 2012.

Current Scenario

The total requirement of the vaccine in India is 22 million doses per year. However, hardly 1.2 million doses are being produced currently. This is because, only 50 doses can be produced from a rabbit spleen.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2020