Transfer of technology ‘Inactivated low pathogenic avian influenza (H9N2) vaccine for chickens’ developed by ICAR-NIHSAD, Bhopal

Source: The post is based on the article “Transfer of technology ‘Inactivated low pathogenic avian influenza (H9N2) vaccine for chickens’ developed by ICAR-NIHSAD, Bhopal” published in the PIB on 28th December 2022. 

What is the News?

Scientists have recently developed the ‘Inactivated low pathogenic avian influenza (H9N2) vaccine for chicken.

About H9N2 Vaccine

It is the first indigenous vaccine for the H9N2 virus. The vaccine will contribute significantly to increasing the income of poultry farmers by reducing the economic loss due to the disease. The vaccine will meet the standard of the market both in India and abroad.

About H9N2 influenza

H9N2 was considered to be a low pathogenicity avian influenza virus (AIV) because it causes mild clinical disease. Poultry infected with H9N2 are important incubators for novel emerging pandemic AIVs.

H9N2 viruses resort to a variety of other subtypes to form novel influenza virus genotypes. Moreover, H9N2 viruses were reported to have evolutionary human-like receptor identities. Hence, they have adapted to bind mammalian host receptors, which led to an increase in human susceptibility.