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ICMR’s Indigenous Vaccine for Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD)

  • 09 Feb 2026

On 7th February 2026, the Health Ministry announced that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is progressing towards the development of an improved indigenous vaccine against Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), a regional infectious disease.

  • KFD is endemic to the Western Ghats region, affecting states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and Maharashtra.
  • The vaccine has been successfully developed, and animal challenge as well as toxicity studies have been completed.
  • Phase I human clinical trials have been initiated after receiving approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).
  • The vaccine development was undertaken at the request of the Karnataka government.
  • ICMR is working on a fully indigenous, two-dose, adjuvanted inactivated KFD vaccine to be administered with a 28-day interval between doses.