Detection of virus in shrimp Technology transfer today

Fisheries College Dean Dr K M Shankar has said that Secretary DARE and Director General of Indian Council of Agriculture Research (New Delhi) Dr S Ayyappan will transfer technology of RapiDot Kit to M/s Virbac Animal Health Care Ltd, Mumbai, a multi-national French company involved in animal and fish health care, at Fisheries College on March 8. 

He said that for the first time in India and the subcontinent, a Monoclonal antibody based Farmers’ kit named “RapiDot” for detection of white spot virus in shrimp culture has been developed at the Department of Aquaculture of the Fisheries College. After extensive field evaluation, the kit has been released for the farmers of the country since 2006.

It is a time tested technology. The technology was developed with funding from the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, New Delhi. The white spot virus is widespread in the world and in India annually it causes an estimated loss of Rs 500 crore in shrimp culture industry. 

The earlier detection of white spot virus helps in warding off the mother shrimp which is infected with the virus, to save other shrimps. It is a simple kit derived from high end technology, where farmers can test in the field. The result is available within five minutes unlike the 1step PCR test. It is 20 times cheaper.

It will cost Rs 40 per sample. However, in 1 step PCR test, farmers will have to shell out Rs 400 per test in the laboratory and the results will be known after four to five hours. 

To help the farmers on a large scale, it has been decided to transfer the technology to the industry. The Fisheries College will get Rs 12 lakh from the industry for the transfer of technology. The kit can be preserved for four months in refrigerator, Dr Shankar added. 

Dr Shankar said that the college has developed four similar monoclonal antibody based test kits for aquatic pathogens which are in the pipeline for transfer to industry.

 Furthermore, a novel biofilm oral vaccine technology for the first time the world has been developed with the assistance from the International Foundation for Science, Sweden and ICAR and Dept of Biotechnology.