The Vitebsk State Academy of Veterinary Medicine has created the «BolsheVAK» vaccine for animal preservation
The polyvalent cultural inactivated virus vaccine is effective against a number of diseases in young cattle – respiratory, gastrointestinal tract, reproductive organ diseases, parainfluenza-3. If without vaccination the incidence can reach 80–100%, mortality – 25%, then after vaccination these figures decrease to 25% and 2–3% respectively. Its imported analogue was about 40–80% more expensive, said the head of the project, head of the Department of Epizootology and Infectious Diseases, Doctor of Veterinary and Biological Sciences, Professor Petr Krasochko.
– The vaccine has already justified the budget funds spent on its development and production by 7.2 times solely through sales, which amounted to 180 thousand rubles. At the enterprise's facilities, one million doses of the vaccine have been produced and sold for 1300 thousand rubles. The economic effect is evident. "BolsheVAK" is actively sold to livestock farms in Belarus, – Petr Albinovich clarified.
Experienced academy staff participated in the development of the biological preparation – Associate Professors Yaroslav Yaromchik, Vladimir Mashero, Professor Irina Krasochko, as well as young scientists Mikhail Ponaskov and Pavel Krasochko.
For Mikhail Ponaskov, an assistant at the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Biotechnology of Animal Reproduction, the vaccine development has become the basis for his doctoral dissertation, which he is preparing to defend.
– This work is very interesting to me. There are many topics for further scientific activity, as well as opportunities provided by the academy, – shared Mikhail, a native of the Grodno region, who, after graduating from the academy, master's program, and completing his mandatory work placement, is pursuing postgraduate studies.
Five more vaccines, developed in the laboratories of the Vitebsk university in conjunction with specialists from OJSC "BelVitunipharm", are undergoing registration trials at the Belarusian State Veterinary Center, and some have already received orders.
Scientists from the Veterinary Academy are collaborating with the Belarusian State Medical University, the S. N. Vyshelesky Institute of Experimental Veterinary Medicine (Minsk), and the Mechnikov Research Institute of Vaccines and Sera (Moscow). Together with foreign colleagues, they have been developing test systems for the diagnosis of human hepatitis E in animals. Currently, they are conducting scientific research in a new direction with the Institute of Physicochemical Problems of Belarusian State University – searching for antiviral agents.
– There are very few such drugs in modern veterinary medicine; these are interferons, abactan, ribavirin, amantadine; all of them are toxic, and the slightest overdose causes liver damage. We, on the other hand, are based on the fact that natural raw materials – beekeeping products (e.g., propolis), derivatives of chaga, pine and fir resin, and shiitake mushrooms – possess good antiviral properties, – commented Petr Krasochko. – We hope that the newly developed medicinal products will increase the efficiency of the livestock industry by reducing the incidence and mortality of animals and increasing their productivity.