Question : DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICINE FOR BIRD FLU .

(a) Whether Indian scientists have developed a medicine for bird flu; and

(b) If so, the details thereof?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE (SHRI KANTILAL BHURIA)

(a) Yes, Sir. The scientists at High Security Animal Disease Laboratory of Indian Veterinary Research Institute at Bhopal have developed a vaccine against Bird Flu.

(b) An inactivated tissue culture vaccine against Bird Flu has been developed indigenously using H5N1 field strain. A dose of 100,000 TCID50 (Tissue culture initial dose) of the cell culture virus with aluminium phosphate (adjuvant) given intramuscularly has been found to be protective.