Science & Technology
Classical Swine Fever Vaccine
- 04 Feb 2020
- 3 min read
Why in News
The live attenuated Classical Swine Fever (CSF) Vaccine technology developed by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) has been released recently.
- Live Attenuated Vaccines (LAV) are vaccines prepared from living microorganisms (viruses, bacteria) that have been weakened under laboratory conditions.
Key Points
- CSF is one of the diseases of pigs causing high mortality with annual loss of approxminately Rs.4.299 billion.
- A lapinized CSF vaccine (uses Weybridge strain, UK) has been used in India since 1964 for controlling the disease. The vaccine is produced by sacrificing large numbers of rabbits for each batch.
- Lapinized denotes viruses which have been adapted to develop in rabbits by serial transfers in this species.
- The country’s total requirements is 22 million doses per year. However, hardly 1.2 million doses are produced per year by the lapinized vaccine.
- In order to do away sacrificing rabbits and increase productivity, IVRI had earlier developed a cell culture CSF vaccine by adapting the lapinized vaccine virus in cell culture.
- Cell culture refers to the maintenance and growth of the cells of multicellular organisms outside the body in specially designed containers and under precise conditions of temperature, humidity, nutrition, and freedom from contamination.
- Since the cell culture vaccine is from a foreign strain (Weybridge Strain, UK), IVRI has further developed a new CSF Cell Culture Vaccine by attenuating an indigenous virulent CSF virus in cell culture. The vaccine virus has a very high titre (concentration) and lakhs of doses can be produced very easily in cell culture and the country's requirement can be easily fulfilled using this new vaccine.
- Due to the very high titre of vaccine virus, this vaccine would be the most economical CSF vaccine.
- Besides, the new vaccine gives immunity for two years as compared to 3 to 6 months protection under the vaccines currently being used.
Indian Veterinary Research Institute
- IVRI is the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institute.
- Established in 1889, IVRI is one of the premier research institutions dedicated to livestock research and development of the region.
