‘Nigeria would have no animals without NVRI’

Ahmed who said this Tuesday in response to a question from newsmen on a working visit to his office, emphasised that without the institute currently producing 100 million doses of different animal vaccines annually, among other achievements, the nation’s animal sub-sector of the agricultural sector would have been practically non-existent. “You may have animals, but […]

Ahmed who said this Tuesday in response to a question from newsmen on a working visit to his office, emphasised that without the institute currently producing 100 million doses of different animal vaccines annually, among other achievements, the nation’s animal sub-sector of the agricultural sector would have been practically non-existent.
“You may have animals, but disease would come and ravage everything,” Ahmed said.
In its drive to protect animals from deadly diseases, NVRI produces 19 different types of vaccines comprising eight bacterial and 11 viral vaccines.
The bacterial vaccines include Anthrax spore vaccine (ASV), black quarter vaccine (BQV), contagious bovine pleuropneumonia vaccine (CBPP), and Haemorrhagic Septicaemia Vaccine (HSV). The other bacterial vaccines are Fowl Typhoid Vaccine (FTV), Fowl cholera Vaccine (FCV), Hantavac Vaccine, and Brucella (S19) vaccine.
The viral vaccines which the institute produces include Rabies Vaccine (for dogs), Rabies Vaccine (for cats), Newcastle Disease Vaccine Intraocular (NDVI), Newcastle Disease Vaccine Lasota (NDVL), Newcastle Disease Vaccine Komarov (NDVK), and Newcastle Disease Vaccine (strainI2).
Other viral vaccines are Infectious Bursal Disease Vaccine (IBDV), Fowl Pox Vaccine (FPV), Peste des petits Ruminants Virus Vaccine (PPRV), Sheep and Goat Pox Vaccine, and Lumpy Skin Disease vaccine.
The history of NVRI dates back to 1913 when a Veterinary Department was established in Zaria to conduct livestock census, disease surveys, and disease control by isolation and quarantine.
The department was moved to Vom as a Veterinary Laboratory in 1924, the same year it produced the first anti-rinderpest serum to control rinderpest outbreaks, making Vom the pioneer institute in West Africa to produce anti-rinderpest serum and animal vaccines.