Domestic demand to be met before future vaccine exports

The Fisheries and Livestock Adviser, Farida Akhter, has stated that vaccines will be exported in the future after meeting domestic demand.

She emphasised the need to raise farmers' awareness of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) and take effective measures for vaccine production.
The Adviser made these remarks this morning while addressing as the chief guest at the seed handover ceremony of the Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) vaccine, developed under the "Research on Prevention and Control of Zoonotic and Transboundary Animal Diseases" development project implemented by the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI). The event was held at Hotel Intercontinental.

The Fisheries and Livestock Adviser stated that Lumpy Skin Disease is a transboundary animal disease, and humans are directly and indirectly affected. Stressing the urgency of vaccine production, she underscored the need to promptly assess the extent of damage caused by this disease to livestock. She also called for enhancing research and laboratory capacities, noting that climate change is leading to the emergence of new pathogens. She assured that the government is prepared to provide the necessary support to scientists.

The Adviser further stated that livestock officials must work to increase awareness about LSD and determine whether consuming meat from infected cattle poses any health risks to humans.
Speakers at the event noted that Lumpy Skin Disease causes severe economic and commercial losses to the livestock sector annually. They also pointed out that importing foreign vaccines is expensive and often insufficient. In this context, the vaccine developed by BLRI can be made available at a lower cost.

BLRI Director General Dr Shakila Faruq chaired the event. Distinguished guests included the Director General of the Department of Livestock Services, Dr Md Abu Sufian, the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Amena Begum, and senior officials from the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, BLRI, the Department of Livestock Services, and the Livestock Research Institute.
Dr A B M Mustanur Rahman, Additional Director of BLRI, delivered the welcome speech. Dr Muhammad Abdus Samad, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of the Transboundary Animal Disease Research Centre at BLRI presented the keynote paper on the LSD vaccine. Following the presentation, an expert panel discussion took place, featuring Professor Dr Bahanur Rahman, Dean of the Veterinary Faculty at Bangladesh Agricultural University, and Professor Dr Nitish Chandra Debnath, Chief of Party for Bangladesh Systems Strengthening for One Health.

Earlier in the event, the Adviser formally handed over the BLRI-developed LSD vaccine to the Department of Livestock Services for commercial production and farmer-level distribution. A bilateral memorandum of understanding on the vaccine was signed, and the production manual of the vaccine was unveiled.