Dikhyaa Mohanty 
A vaccine to control goat pox disease among India’s significant goat population, which has high economic importance for rural livestock growers, was launched on November 19. ‘Raksha Goat Pox’, of leading Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL), is a live attenuated vaccine I.P. (Uttarkashi strain) grown on Vero cell culture.
According to the official reports, the primary vaccination has to be done at 3 months of age and re-vaccination annually. The technology for the vaccine and its testing was obtained from the Indian Council of Agriculture Research-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (ICAR- IVRI), Government of India and has been tested and certified by it for commercial release.
IIL Managing Director, Dr K. Anand Kumar stated that Indian Immunologicals is committed to introducing such products for the national interest and will abundantly help marginal livestock growers of their livelihood and protect their flock from various diseases.
The report further added that India has about 150 million goat population and this disease is endemic in many parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Highly contagious, goat pox spreads through aerosol, contact and also through vectors such as flies. Goats of all ages, breeds and sexes are affected but the disease is very severe in young, old, and lactating animals, and it results in death in many cases.
