January 13, 2015
India's IIL launches country's first bluetongue vaccine
Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), India's top veterinary biologicals company, has introduced the country's first vaccine for bluetongue.
Raksha-Blu is a pentavalent vaccine, incorporating five strains of bluetongue virus.
Among the 24 bluetongue strains prevalent in the world, only the five strains are relevant to India. Cattle, sheep and goats are affected by the disease.
Last year, several outbreaks of bluetongue have been reported across the sheep belt in India's southern and western states. "IIL developed this vaccine in collaboration with TANUVAS (Tamilnadu University of Veterinary and Animal sciences) and ICAR (Indian Council of Agriculture Research)," said Dr. K Anand Kumar, deputy managing director, IIL.
IIL is a top-three animal health company in India.