Lumpi-ProVac: ICAR creates locally produced vaccine for cattle with lumpy disease

ICAR develops Lumpi-ProVac, a locally made vaccine, for cattle with Lumpy skin disease. For veterinarians and cattle owners battling to stop the spread of lumpy skin disease among cattle in regions like Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Punjab, among others, there is encouraging news. Scientists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) announced that an indigenous vaccine against the Lumpy skin disease (Lumpi-ProVac), which had been developed since 2019 using viral strains obtained from Ranchi, has successfully finished field trials and is now prepared for commercial introduction.

Lumpi-ProVac for Lumpy skin disease: Key Points:

• In a significant development, two ICAR institutes have created the Lumpi-ProVac vaccine, which the national government now intends to commercialise as soon as possible in order to contain the outbreak of Lumpy skin disease that has killed thousands of cattle across multiple Indian states over the past several weeks.
• The Lumpi-ProVac vaccine’s development during the previous three years was described by Dr. Naveen Kumar, a researcher at the ICAR National Research Centre for Equines in Haryana who oversaw the vaccine trials.

Lumpi-ProVac for Lumpy skin disease: Lumpy Skin Disease:

• Lumpy skin disease, which affects both cows and buffaloes and is brought on by the capripox virus, derives its name from the massive, firm nodules that appear on the skin of cattle who have the condition.
• Other signs of the Lumpy skin disease in these animals include depression, conjunctivitis, and excessive salivation.
• The nodules eventually rupture, resulting in the animals bleeding. The Lumpy skin disease viral illness currently has no known treatment; instead, clinical symptoms are primarily managed.
• The goatpox vaccine, which also offers some protection against Lumpy skin disease, is currently being utilised to prevent the disease.

Lumpi-ProVac for Lumpy skin disease: Process:

It comprises weaker strains of the lumpy skin disease virus since Lumpi-ProVac is a live attenuated vaccination. Researchers used genetic engineering techniques called serial passaging to weaken the virus strains. It took an entire 1.5 years to develop the appropriate attenuated strain for Lumpi-ProVac. Before field trials, the Lumpi-ProVac vaccine underwent safety testing on mice and rabbits.