Kinkini Gupta
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Written By: Kinkini Gupta | Updated : June 21, 2022 5:33 PM IST
Animal Vaccine Launched To Protect Them Against COVID-19 Variants
Several cases of animals getting infected with the COVID-19 virus were being reported all around the world during the peak of the pandemic. These animals were all in very close contact with humans who were infected with COVID-19 or were carrying the virus. There were some speculations regarding the fact that whether or not animals especially ones living in domestic spaces, can be the transmitters of the virus. But CDC published a report saying that they cannot. It is more likely that animals can contract the virus from humans, but they cannot transmit it. CDCs report stated that the dogs who had tested positive for COVID, did not show any symptoms, but almost 2 out of 15 of them had tested positive.
The National Research Centre on Equines (NRC) launched India's first COVID-19 vaccine, Anocovax for animals. The vaccine is composed of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Delta antigen with Alhydrogel as an adjuvant. The immunity induced by Anocovax neutralizes both Delta and Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said in a statement. They also added that the vaccine is safe for dogs, lions, leopards, mice and rabbits.
According to Dr Vinod Sharma, Head of Veterinary Services at DCC Animal Hospital, "This is an extremely positive development in pet health. It's time we all came out and talked about pet health. All animals are at risk of different kinds of zoonotic diseases and this vaccination is a very good move to tackle that and keep our animals safe. Let's do our bit to save animal lives too. After all, animals and humans both are very important to each other."
A new diagnostic kit called 'CAN-CoV-2 ELISA kit' has also been launched along with Anocovax vaccine. this new kit is a protein based, sensitive nucleocapsid used for detecting antibodies in animals, especially canines.
No tests or experiments were conducted on animals during this study. The diagnostic kit is completely indigenous. As of now, India is the first country to have launched this diagnostic kit and vaccine for animals. This has only been successful due to the contributions made by the scientists of our country.
