Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL) has launched Bruvax, the country's first vaccine against Brucellosis, a disease caused in livestock by the bacteria Brucella abortus. The disease affects cattle, buffalo, bison, pigs, sheep, goats, dogs, elk and occasionally horses and is characterised by abortion, retained placenta, and to a lesser extent orchitis and infection of accessory sex glands in males. The infected animals shed the organisms in milk and in the uterine discharges and the animals may temporarily become sterile.

According to K V Balasubramaniam, Managing Director, ILL, the only pragmatic solution to control the disease lies in adopting prophylactic mass vaccination programme in the female calves of 4-8 months old. The vaccine is presented in a lypholised form with a packing of five-dose freeze dried vaccine with 10ml of sterile diluent. The dose of the reconstituted vaccine is 2ml per animal. The vaccine has a shelf life of 12 months.

Giving details of the disease, Balasubramaniam said the animals affected by Brucellosis had to be culled to prevent the transmission to other animals. Besides causing economic losses in livestock, Brucellosis was also of zoonotic importance. The disease would also spread to humans leading to a series of public health problems. The disease in humans had been reflected as undulant fever coupled with serious complications affecting the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and CNS systems.

A wholly owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board, IIL undertakes research, develop and market quality veterinary biologicals at affordable prices to Indian farmers. IIL is India's Number one veterinary biological company and the largest exporter of veterinary biologicals. Besides being the major producer of FMD (foot and mouth disease) vaccine in the sub-continent, IIL is producing and marketing anti-rabies vaccine (Raksharab), HS, HS-BQ, Sheep Pox, Enterotoxemia (ET) and multi-component canine vaccines etc. for controlling diseases in livestock.