Guwahati: The Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati (IIT-G) has handed over a unique vaccine technology to BioMed Pvt. Ltd., a manufacturer specialising in vaccines. This technology is for a special vaccine aimed at fighting the classical swine fever virus in pigs and wild boars. It’s the first of its kind in India and uses a method called reverse genetics developed at IIT-G.
This new vaccine is important for India’s vaccine landscape as the virus poses a severe threat to the pig industry with its exceptionally high mortality rate. It’s important to mention that while it harms pigs, it doesn’t affect people. Swine fever outbreaks are common in several parts of India, like the northeast, Bihar, Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat.
This vaccine was created through teamwork between researchers at IIT-G’s Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering and Assam Agricultural University in Guwahati. They published their research on the vaccine’s effectiveness in their journals like Process Biochemistry and Archives of Virology.
An IIT-G spokesperson said, “Swine fever poses a threat to India’s pig industry as no vaccine is currently available. Transferring the vaccine technology to one of the leaders in the veterinary vaccine sector marks a remarkable achievement.”
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