ICAR develops Ancovax vaccine

• Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched Ancovax — India’s first COVID-19 vaccine for animals — and other diagnostic kits developed by the ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines in Hisar, Haryana.

• Ancovax is an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Delta (COVID-19) vaccine for animals. 

• The immunity induced by Ancovax neutralises both Delta and Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2. 

• The vaccine contains inactivated SARS-CoV-2 (Delta) antigen with Alhydrogel as an adjuvant.

• It is safe for dogs, lions, leopards, mice and rabbits, ICAR said.

Diagnostic kits launched include:

CAN-CoV-2 ELISA kit: It is a sensitive and specific nucleocapsid protein based indirect ELISA kit for antibody detection against SARS-CoV-2 in canines. There are no laboratory animals required for the preparation of the antigens. The kit is made in India and a patent has been filed for the same. No other comparable kits for detection of antibodies in canines are available in the market.

Surra ELISA kit: It is a suitable diagnostic assay for Trypanosoma evansi infection in multiple animal species. Surra is one of the most important haemoprotozoan diseases of different livestock species caused by Trypanosoma evansi. The disease is prevalent in all the agro-climatic parts of India and causes losses to livestock productivity.

Equine DNA parentage testing kit: It is a powerful genomic technology for parentage analysis. The parentage among the horses can be definitely established using multiplex PCR technology to compare allele sizes. At ICAR-NRC on Equines, an optimised 21 DNA Market Panel is being used for parentage testing.

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