ICAR-IVRI scientists develop vaccine for swine fever

NEW DELHI: A live attenuated CSF cell culture vaccine using an Indian isolate is developed for the first time by the team of ICAR-IVRI scientists, Dr. Pronab Dhar, Dr. Ashok Kumar Tiwari, Dr. M Manu,Dr. Vikramaditya Upmanyu , Dr. Richa Pachauri and Dr. Raj Kumar Singh.

According to the Scientists, classical swine fever is one of the most important diseases of pigs causing high mortality with annual loss of approx Rs. 4.299 billion. A lapinized CSF vaccine is being used in India since 1964 for controlling the disease. The vaccine is produced by sacrificing large numbers of rabbits for each batch. Country’s total requirements is 22 million doses per year and hardly 1.2 million doses are produced per year by the lapinized vaccine, as only 50 doses are produced from a single rabbit spleen.

To avoid the sacrificing of rabbits and increase in productivity, IVRI had earlier developed a cell culture CSF vaccine by adapting the lapinized vaccine virus in cell culture. During 2016 and 2018, technology has been transferred to M/S Indian Immunologicals, Hyderabad and government of Punjab.

According to the study, the vaccine is safe, potent, does not revert to virulence and provides protective immunity from day 14 of the vaccination till 24 months as it has been tested on around 500 pigs at multiple locations.

This vaccine would be the most economical CSF vaccine costing around less than Rs. 2 per dose compared to the cost of lapinized CSF vaccine and imported Korean vaccine. Various state governments, private manufacturers and government of Nepal are demanding for the transfer of this vaccine technology.

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