The Maharashtra government has finalised a proposal to undertake production of the vaccine against the lumpy skin disease, which has affected a large number of cattle in the state and other parts of the country.
The move will make Maharashtra self-sufficient in producing the vaccine, commonly known as goatpox.
An official from the Animal Husbandry Department said that they aim to inoculate cattle every year to check the spread of the disease. The technology to produce the vaccine is already available with the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), which is a Union government body, he said.
The official said, “The state government needs to transfer around Rs70 lakh to the ICAR as part of royalty. Once the technology is acquired, the state government will start production at a facility in Aundh (Pune district) and become self-sufficient.”
The first case of the lumpy virus in Maharashtra was detected in Jalgaon district a few months ago, but a massive vaccination drive kept the cattle toll under control in the state, the official said.
