Gujarat developing CDV vaccine for lions

AHMEDABAD: The canine distemper virus (CDV) outbreak in October 2018 came as an opportunity for the state to show it is capable of developing a vaccine of its own. The Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC), under the department of science and technology, is developing a CDV vaccine which is now at the trial stage.
Hareet Shukla, secretary, science and technology, said, “We are in the process of developing a vaccine for CDV in lions. It is under development and the results will be available soon.”
Sources in the department said the genesis of the project was the 26 lion deaths, due to CDV and babesia, in Gir (East) division in October 2018. At the time, CDV vaccines were imported from the US.
Sources said GBRC was involved in testing of blood, tissue and swab samples for diagnostics at the time. Scientists observed that the viral sequence from the infected lions differed from the reference genomes from National Centre for Biotechnology Information. A project was also taken up to identify seroprevalence of CDV in canine and feline species in Gir through antigen and antibody testing.
Officials said that it was during this project that GBRC scientists began working on developing the CDV vaccine and the initial results are promising.
A forest officer said the imported vaccine was to be given in three shots at regular intervals, which is difficult to administer in the wild. GBRC is likely to develop a single-shot vaccine. A senior officer said the vaccine will be tested on zoo animals.