Partnership. IIL ties up with CIFA for developing vaccine for fish disease

Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL) entered into a partnership with the Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA), Bhubaneswar, an Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Institute for the commercial development of vaccines against Hemorrhagic Septicemia, also called Aeromonas Septicemia, Ulcer Disease or Red-Sore Disease in freshwater fish.

“IIL is the first in India to get fish vaccines. We are aware of the challenges associated with being the first, having been in similar situations for many other livestock vaccines,’‘ K Anand Kumar, Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals, said in a release on Monday. 

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IIL was working at multiple fronts in defining pathways for the commercial development of fish vaccines in India, he added. 

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Pramoda Kumar Sahoo, Director of ICAR-CIFA, said, “Currently, there are no fish vaccines available in India on a commercial scale to prevent aquaculture infections. Scientists from CIFA conducted years of research to develop vaccine candidates against Aeromonas Septicemia. I am glad that IIL have come forward for the commercial development of this vaccine”.

Hyderabad-based IIL ventured into the aqua business in October 2022 by launching products for the aquaculture health market dealing with pond management and fish or shrimp gut management and subsequently, announced commercial development of fish vaccines with ICAR-CIFE. 

Aquaculture sectors play a vital role in India’s economy and the fisheries sector is a means of livelihood for about 28 million people in the country. India is the third largest fish producer in the global sphere and more than 65 percent of India’s fish is through Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture. 

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The main constraint to aquaculture globally, however, is disease with an estimate that 20 per cent of all cultured aquatic animals are lost because of infectious diseases, amounting to around $10 billion in losses annually on a global scale.

Hemorrhagic Septicemia in freshwater fishes is caused by Aeromonas hydrophila, an opportunistic pathogenic bacterium. This infection is the scourge of fresh and brackish water fish farming worldwide and is considered as a significant economic problem in Indian aquaculture over the past decades.

All the cultured freshwater fish species in India like rohu, catla, mrigal, silver carp, grass carp, common carp, medium carps, channel catfish, eel, etc.. are susceptible to this disease.

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