Indian vets develop sheep, goat plague vaccine

Indian veterinarians have developed the world's first effective vaccine against sheep and goat plague that causes extensive losses to the livestock sectors in several Asian countries, especially India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The small animals plague, technically called 'Peste des petits ruminants' or PPR, is one of the most infectious diseases of sheep and goat in this part of the world.

It was first spotted in Tamil Nadu in 1989 and has since spread to the entire country, besides the neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

In India alone, the annual economic loss due to this disease is estimated at about Rs 180 crores. The country has some 200 million sheep and goats.

The plague causes death in over 50 per cent of the affected animals due to high fever, pneumonia, diarrhoea and dehydration. No vaccine was so far available for protecting the animals against this disease.

The vaccine (described as the vero-cell line based live attenuated freeze-dried vaccine) has been developed at the Mukteshwar campus of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) by the Chennai-based Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Science University.

The technology for its commercial production has already been passed on to units in several states, including Haryana, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Each dose of the vaccine costs around Rs 1. The vaccine has a shelf life of more than one year under refrigeration and provides immunity against the disease for three years.

It is expected to help reduce losses due to mortality, improving the economic condition of poor sheep and goat farmers.