Deadly pox virus downs goats in Agra institute

Vijay Upadhyay
Agra. The Central Goat Research Institute (CGRI) in Makhdoom near Agra is one of the few premier institutes engaged in research and breeding of goats and sheep, in the country.

But the future of this 35- year-old institute has suddenly become bleak, with almost the entire stock of sheep being bred in the institute coming down with a highly contagious strain of chicken pox virus. The virus is resisting all known vaccines, forcing the institute vets into quarantining these animals in order to prevent them from infecting the huge stock of genetically engineered goats that is also being bred in the institute.

Talking to Sunday Pioneer, Dr VS Vihan, in-charge animal health, CGRI said that the disease hadstruck the institute about a month back in the form of a few sheep displaying symptoms of fever and accumulation of lymph in the hair-less areas of the animal's body. By the time the disease was identified as a fatal strain of chicken pox, almost 30 per cent of the animals had already succumbed to the disease.

According to Dr Vihan, several vaccines had been tried by the institute vets to prevent the spread of the virus but the infection could not be contained as the vaccine was not able to combat the new virus strain. He said that so far the disease, which had a mortality rate of 80-100 per cent, has claimed the lives of over 50 per cent of the sheep stock in the farm, a number which institute sources claim to be almost sheep. Over 30 per cent of the sheep are currently down with the disease and were under supportive therapy though there are no chances of most of these sheep making it out alive.

He said that the scientists from Indian Veterinary Research Institute had visited the farm a couple of weeks back and had taken serum samples of the virus infected sheep to isolate the virus strain and develop a new vaccine. But the vaccine is yet to be developed and due to the delay, the disease spread in the institute.

Strict quarantine is currently being observed inside the institute as this is the first time the disease has struck the animals inside the institute campus during the past 35 years. The institute scientists are baffled at the virulence of the disease which could wipe out the results of years of research in just a couple of months.

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