HPAI vaccines in India: A new chapter for poultry health, or a step that demands greater caution?

Avian influenza has proven to be one of the most stubborn and costly diseases poultry producers anywhere have had to manage. How India calibrates its response now will likely set the template for the sector’s disease-control strategy for years.

The case industry leaders are making

For producers who have lived through culling operations and the movement restrictions that follow an outbreak, the appeal of vaccination is straightforward. Repeated outbreaks erode farmer confidence and ripple through the supply chain long after the birds are gone. An additional layer of protection matters most where the stakes are highest – breeder and parent-stock operations, where losing birds does not just cost a flock, it disrupts everything downstream of it.

It also helps that India would not be charting unfamiliar territory. A number of countries have folded HPAI vaccination into their disease-control programs already, and that track record is something Indian stakeholders keep returning to in conversation.

“The debate is no longer whether vaccination should be discussed, but how it can be integrated into a broader and sustainable avian influenza control strategy.”

Dr Ravindra Kumar Jaiswal

“I support the introduction of HPAI vaccination in India as part of an integrated national control strategy, particularly for high-risk poultry populations and production zones,” said Dr Ravindra Kumar Jaiswal, President at IB Group (ABIS Foods & Proteins Pvt Ltd).

He explained that a well-designed vaccination program can reduce the probability of large-scale outbreaks, decrease infection pressure on neighboring farms, and lower the risk of spillover to wild birds, mammals, and humans. India should therefore adopt vaccination in a phased, targeted and evidence-based manner, supported by molecular surveillance and vaccine-efficacy testing against Indian field isolates.

He continued that vaccination can reduce clinical disease, mortality, emergency culling, movement restrictions and production disruption, especially for small and medium poultry farmers. It can also protect valuable breeder stock, maintain continuity of hatching-egg and day-old chick supplies, support price stability, ensure continuity in poultry meat and egg production, and strengthen national protein security.

However, that support comes with conditions. Dr Jaiswal said, “Before implementation, policymakers must ensure continuous surveillance of circulating HPAI subtypes and variants, validate vaccine performance against Indian isolates, establish DIVA-compatible monitoring systems, maintain PCR and serological surveillance, and align vaccination with international standards on zoning, compartmentalization and trade certification.”

He further explained that India should adopt a combination approach by allowing carefully evaluated imported vaccines in the short term while simultaneously accelerating indigenous vaccine development through ICAR-NIHSAD, national research institutes, universities and capable private manufacturers. This will reduce long-term dependence on imports, improve vaccine matching with Indian field strains and strengthen national preparedness.

“The way forward should include controlled evaluation of available vaccines, pilot vaccination in high-risk production systems, establishment of a national surveillance and vaccine-monitoring framework, development of DIVA-compatible strategies, and continued strengthening of biosecurity. The ultimate objective should be to reduce disease burden and economic losses while maintaining transparency, public health protection and confidence in poultry trade,” said Dr Jaiswal.

Suresh Chitturi

Suresh Chitturi, Chairman at Srinivasa Farms and Chair at CII Animal Agriculture Task Force, arrives at the same conclusion from a different angle – the toll outbreaks take on smaller operators who have the least cushion to absorb it.

“Yes, I support the introduction of HPAI vaccination in India. The rising frequency and severity of outbreaks make vaccination a necessary tool to safeguard the sector,” he said.

“The biggest benefits are in protecting valuable breeder stock and the livelihoods of small farmers, who are least equipped to absorb the losses from culling and outbreaks. Vaccination brings much-needed stability and confidence to the supply chain.”

On what should drive vaccine selection, Mr Chitturi was direct: “Efficacy must be the overriding priority in selecting vaccines, with strain matching to circulating field viruses taking precedence over the source of the vaccine.”

He added that policymakers must pair vaccination with a robust surveillance and DIVA (Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals) strategy, so that disease circulation continues to be detected and trade concerns are addressed.

“The way forward must rest on strong surveillance and monitoring, ensuring the right vaccines are used against the right strains, supported by continuous review,” Mr Chitturi stressed.

Why caution still matters

Not everyone weighing in is arguing against vaccination. The more cautious voices in this debate are arguing against treating any single vaccine – imported or otherwise – as a replacement for the surveillance and biosecurity work India already does. For them, the order of operations matters: characterizing circulating field strains should not be an afterthought to whichever vaccine clears the approval process first.

Dr Ravi Pachaiyappan

Dr Ravi Pachaiyappan, founder of Augie.in and Biosint Nutraceuticals, frames vaccination as one part of a wider toolkit rather than a replacement for existing measures. “India should consider HPAI vaccination as a complementary tool alongside its existing stamping-out policy. Given the size and diversity of the country’s poultry sector, vaccination can help reduce mortality, limit economic losses, improve food security, and lower zoonotic risk,” he said.

However, Dr Pachaiyappan reminded that any program must be phased, science-based, supported by strong surveillance and DIVA capabilities, and integrated with robust biosecurity measures. “India should pursue both immediate access to proven vaccines and accelerated development of indigenous solutions tailored to local virus strains,” he said.

What happens next

There is a trade dimension too, and it does not go away once a vaccine is approved. Export markets watch how a country reports and monitors disease in vaccinated flocks, and India will need a system that satisfies trading partners as much as it satisfies its own farmers. That is likely why DIVA-compatible surveillance comes up so consistently in this debate, no matter which side of the imports-versus-indigenous question a given voice falls on.

Vaccine approval, on its own, will not settle much. The harder work is what comes after: building surveillance systems that actually track circulating strains, running the studies that confirm a vaccine works against Indian field isolates, and standing up the regulatory infrastructure to tell the difference between a vaccinated bird and an infected one. Whether the first vaccines to reach Indian farms are imported or developed at home may end up mattering less than whether that infrastructure gets built properly.

On the basic goal, there is not much disagreement. Producers, scientists and policymakers all want healthy birds, farmers who can stay in business, and a poultry sector that keeps growing instead of becoming more fragile. The disagreement is over sequencing – what gets built first, and what India is willing to depend on while it catches up.