‘Lumpi-ProVac’ a potential game changer against LSD: Rupala 

Pashu Sandesh, 1st Jan 2023

An MoU for the production of Goat Pox vaccine and "Lumpi-ProVac" vaccine was signed in Nagpur on 29th December 2022  in the presence of Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis of Maharashtra. Rupala praised the commendable effort put forth by ICAR in developing an indigenous vaccine Lumpi-ProVac for LSD. He further said that this MoU will also ensure large-scale production of the Goat Pox vaccine for the future needs of India's livestock sector. At present, the Goat Pox vaccine is used for controlling Lumpy Skin Disease in animals and this has been proven effective against Lumpy.

National Centre for Veterinary Type Culture, ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE), Hisar (Haryana), in collaboration with ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar (UP) developed a homologous live-attenuated LSD vaccine, named Lumpi-ProVacInd. Agrinnovate India Limited  (AgIn), the commercial arm of DARE, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Govt. of India granted  “Non-Exclusive Rights” for Commercial production of “Lumpi-ProVac”, to the Institute of Veterinary Biological Products (IVBP), Pune on 29 Dec 2022.

Lumpi-ProVacind is safe in animals and induces LSDV-specific antibody-and cell-mediated immune response, besides providing complete protection against lethal LSDV challenge. Lumpi-ProVacind is used for the prophylactic immunization of animals against Lumpy Skin Disease, which illicit protection for about one year.  A single dose of the vaccine contains 103.5 TCID50 of live-attenuated LSDV (Ranchi strain). The vaccine is stored at 4°C. The vaccine must be shipped on ice and must be used within a few hours after reconstitution. The patent has been filed by the ICAR for the technology. 

The event was also attended by Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Minister of Animal Husbandry, Govt. of Maharashtra, Dr B.N. Tripathi, DDG (Animal Science), ICAR, Dr Triveni Dutt, Director, ICAR-IVRI, Dr T K Bhattacharya, Director, ICAR-NRCE, Sachindra Pratap Singh, Commissioner (AH), Govt. of Maharashtra and Dr Praveen Malik, CEO, AgIn, other officials from ICAR and AgIn. Agrinnovate granted a non-exclusive license to IVBP, Pune for ten years.

The Lumpy Skin Disease has been reported in India since 2019 while the first case was reported in the state of Odisha. After that, it spread to multiple states in the country. In 2019, the death of a large number of cattle has been reported from different states with high morbidity, especially in the North-West region of the country. The disease has been controlled and contained with the available Goatpox vaccine in the country. Considering the heavy production losses and mortality of a sizable number of cattle, ICAR initiated research on the development of an indigenous homologous vaccine against Lumpy Skin Disease.