Govt to issue notice to 3 cos making FMD vaccines

The government has decided to issue notices to three companies involved in manufacturing and supply of vaccines to prevent foot and mouth disease (FMD), besides setting up a three-member panel to investigate the quality of FMD vaccines.
"Taking cognizance of reports appearing in a section of Press about quality of vaccines for animals to control Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Minister of State for Agriculture, has ordered to issue notice to three companies involved in manufacturing and supply of FMD vaccines," an official statement said.
He has also ordered constitution of a three-member committee, headed by ICAR Additional Director General (Animal Husbandry) Gaya Prasad, to investigate the issue and submit the report in 45 days, it added.

The terms of reference of the committee will include investigating "the role of B R Singh, Acting Director, National Institute of Animal Health (NIAH), Baghpat, in leaking test report findings to print and electronic media without approval of the competent authority".
The panel will conduct sterility test on samples on the same FMC vaccines batches used by National Institute of Animal Health and Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bengaluru.
The test will be conducted in the Standardization Division of Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar. Fresh samples will also be drawn from all FMD vaccine manufacturers for testing, the statement said.

The panel will examine the protocol followed and competence of staff of NIAH, Baghpat for conducting FMD vaccine sterility and stability testing and its validity.