ICAR Develops India's First Indigenous African Swine Fever Vaccine

# ICAR Develops India's First Indigenous African Swine Fever Vaccine ### Why in News? **ICAR-NIHSAD**, Bhopal developed India's first indigenous vaccine against **African Swine Fever** (**ASF**), a highly deadly viral disease of pigs. ### Why is this vaccine important? - **ASF** can cause very high mortality in domestic and wild pigs and has caused major losses to pig farmers in India. - The vaccine uses a live attenuated platform — a weakened form of the virus used to train the animal's immune system. - Its indigenous development is intended to make vaccination more accessible and reduce dependence on proprietary foreign production systems. ### Exam Connect - **African Swine Fever** → viral disease affecting pigs - **ICAR-NIHSAD** → Bhopal - **ICAR** → **Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare**