Bhopal lab to come out with new bird flu vaccine

Bhopal-based High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, the only laboratory in Asia that meets bio-safety lab-4 norms, is working on developing a vaccine for bird flu.

The head of the lab, Hare Krishna Pradhan, last week confirmed officially Maharashtra, Gujarat, and some other neighbouring areas were affected with bird flu.

The lab said it has developed a diagnostic kit in April last year but a US-based lab copied the technique this year.

"We will develop the vaccine within 6-8 months, while another vaccine on molecular bio-tech called DNA vaccines, a form of gene therapy, will be developed within two years," he said adding, "the Indian Council for Agriculture Research has sanctioned Rs 8.12 crore for this. After the development of the vaccine, the technology will be available for the central and state governments or any private company," Pradhan said.

A Delhi-based government-owned lab will work on the vaccine and HSADL would supply DNA of the virus since the HSADL cannot supply virus to any institution in the world, he said. The Delhi lab will develop the vaccine for humans while HSADL will develop the vaccine for avian.

Confirming reports, after coming out of his scientific hibernation since the bird flu broke in the country, he today said, "Of the total 12 samples received from Navapura village of Nandurabar district in Maharashtra on February 11, eight samples tested positive for H5N1 virus that can transform to affect human beings."

He also said Utchal and Songarh areas of Gujarat had also tested positive. He, however, said, "the central government notified the disease on 15 February." He clarified that no case was tested positive in Madhya Pradesh.

He also pointed out that India urgently needed a lab for testing humans, which conformed to bio-safety-4 norms.

"We are working on 7-8 diseases and results are encouraging. We will soon come out with a diagnostic technology which will be a great help in diagnosing some dangerous animal diseases," he said.