April 5, 2022

 

Australia's chief veterinarian supports calls to import samples of lumpy skin disease to develop vaccine

 

 

Mark Schipp, Australia's chief veterinarian has supported calls from the cattle sector to import live samples of lumpy skin disease so scientists can develop a vaccine, ABC Australia reported.

 

The chief veterinarian recently returned from Indonesia, where authorities in Sumatra's Riau province are trying to vaccinate 83,000 cattle there.

 

He said cattle badly affected by lumpy skin diseases are unable to walk and feed. They can be individually nursed but this is difficult in major cattle farms.

 

The Cattle Council of Australia has urged to allow the import of live samples of lumpy skin disease so scientists can develop a vaccine to protect the country's AUD 40 million industry.

 

Markus Rathsmann, the council president, said the CSIRO's Animal Health Laboratory is able to manage research and development for disease and viruses.

 

He said other countries have develop vaccines but they have a risk of spreading the virus.

 

Rathsmann said it would be a game-changer domestically and overseas if Australia was able to develop a safer, single-shot mRNA vaccine.

 

Dr Schipp said the CSIRO facility was built to work on diseases such as lumpy skin and foot and mouth, but it was not given final approval.

 

He said the facility has shown it is highly secure with no disease able to escape, adding that they need to work the virus so they can develop an effective vaccine rather than a live vaccine.

 

Dr Schipp said he was working to gather support with all state and territory governments, as well as livestock sectors, to discover any concerns before proposing to change the CSIRO facility's status.

 

-      ABC Australia