Role of parasite vaccines in sustained animal health and production*

Farm animals and birds are reared for economic reasons such as milk production, meat, eggs, wool, hide and/or for draught purposes. Therefore, factors that adversely affect the animal's health can seriously threaten the farmer's ability to economically produce animal products. animals. Parasitic infections, especially those affecting the gastro-intestinal system play an important role in causing severe morbidity and/or mortality in animals. Therefore, proper control of parasitic infections in food animals is critically important for sustained animal production and consequent future food security of the nation. Several different approaches are followed to control parasitic infections in animals. The most common is chemotherapy. This approach although effective has several disadvantages including development of drug resistance and drug residues. Other management related approaches such as grazing rotation, breeding for genetically resistant animals, and biological control of parasites have limited advantage to the farmers in the Indian subcontinent because majority of the farmers have fewer herd. A sustainable approach to control parasitic infection in livestock in India to improve animal production would be to vaccinate animals against chronic and subclinical parasitic infections. Although there is an initial cost in the discovery and manufacturing of a vaccine, the immunity afforded by the vaccine are usually long lived. Vaccination will be a cheaper alternative to control parasitic infection in the long run to improve animal production.