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Bangladeshi scientists have recently developed a new vaccine for livestock to prevent foot-and-mouth disease.
The vaccine is expected to help boost the country's livestock sector as it incurs a loss of US$ 125 million per year due to the disease.
The announcement came at a press conference held in the city on Tuesday. Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP) under the Ministry of Education and University Grants Commission (UGC) organised the press conference.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, UGC Chairman Prof Abdul Mannan, Secondary and Higher Education Division Secretary Sohrab Hossain and educationist Prof Muhammad Zafar Iqbal were present at the programme.
A team, led by microbiology professor of Dhaka University Md Anwar Hossain, developed the vaccine after they conducted research for last seven years.
Mentioning various aspects of the new vaccine, Mr Hossain said the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is one of the key impediments to the desired growth of the country's livestock sector.
The livestock sector contributes 1.54 per cent to gross national product (GNP) and 13.62 per cent to agricultural production, he said.
"The FMD is a major challenge for the livestock sector in Bangladesh," he said, adding that at present, the country meets the demand for vaccines mostly by import.
Being a home-grown product, he also said, the new vaccine will be more effective and cost-effective than that of imported ones.
"In many cases, imported vaccines have been proved fruitless for the livestock," he said.
Some types of livestock viruses are unique for Bangladesh, that's why it needs more specific and home-grown vaccine, said Mr Hossain, who is also the Vice- chancellor (VC) of Jessore University of Science and Technology.
He thanked several institutions including Dhaka University, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDRB) and Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) for their support to conduct the research.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Nahid said the country incurs a loss of $125 million a year due to the FMD.
The minister also said the innovation is a milestone for the country as the research was conducted on the basis of viruses transmitting within the country's border.
In reply to a query, Mr Hossain said the research team expects the vaccine will be commercially available for the farmers.
One Pharma Ltd (OPL) is the industrial partner of the vaccine, he added.
When contacted, Managing Director of OPL KSM Mostafizur Rahman said the new vaccine is a crucial innovation for the country as it is expected to significantly reduce the vaccine cost and prevent untimely death of animals.
"As the sole industrial partner, we will go for manufacturing the vaccine as soon as possible."
Mr Rahman also said the current local vaccine market for FMD is estimated at around Tk 15 billion a year.
"Most animals infected with the FMD still remain untreated due to unavailability of the vaccine."
He said the price of per unit vaccine will be halved when they will start manufacturing it in the country.