**Executive Summary**
This document outlines the Government of India's response to a Parliament Question regarding zoonotic diseases. It details the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP), lists common zoonotic diseases, and presents data on case reporting from 2022 to 2026. Key initiatives for vaccine development against these diseases are also highlighted, with ongoing research and collaborations aimed at bolstering preparedness for potential outbreaks.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP):**
* Launched by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to enhance early warning and prompt response to disease outbreaks.
* **Common Zoonotic Diseases under IDSP:**
* Scrub typhus, Leptospirosis, Human Rabies, Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), Nipah Virus Disease, and West Nile Fever.
* **Case Reporting Data:**
* Annexure-I provides year-wise details of KFD, Leptospirosis, and Scrub Typhus cases reported by States/UTs on the IDSP-IHIP portal (2022-2026).
* Annexure-II provides State/UT-wise details of cases reported during outbreaks of West Nile Fever, Nipah Virus Disease, CCHF, and Human Rabies since 2022.
* **Reasons for Potential Increase in Zoonotic Diseases:**
* Enhanced capacity building, better-trained health workers, strengthened diagnostic facilities, and expanded awareness campaigns leading to improved detection and reporting.
* Expanding human-wildlife interfaces, rapid urbanization, and climate variability are contributing factors.
* **Government Efforts in Vaccine Development:**
* **Department of Biotechnology (DBT):**
* Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) is exploring innate immune response for rabies and strategies to target the virus.
* RGCB is developing advanced multi-antigenic DNA and circRNA-based vaccines for dengue and Zika viruses.
* BRIC-THSTI and BRIC-RGCB are jointly working on Monoclonal Antibodies Against Nipah Virus, with provisional patents filed in India and Bangladesh (2024 and 2025 deadlines for patents).
* BRIC-National Institute of Immunology (BRIC-NII) is developing next-generation vaccines for Japanese encephalitis and dengue.
* BRIC-NII is collaborating with EU research groups on next-generation influenza vaccines (COBRA and APC-mix) for broad protection.
* BRIC-National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (BRIC-NIAB) is researching vaccine candidates for animal-borne diseases like brucellosis, leptospirosis, tuberculosis, and rabies.
* BRIC-National Centre for Cell Science (BRIC-NCCS) is working on a Nipah vaccine candidate and developing chimeric antibodies for diagnostics.
* **Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR):**
* CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) is working on highly pathogenic avian influenza and has established environmental surveillance protocols for early warning.
* **Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC):**
* Provides funding for healthcare R&D, particularly for animal-borne disease vaccines, through programs like Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG).
* BIG-supported projects include DNA vaccines for rabies, replication-incompetent viral vaccines for influenza, single-dose antimalaria injections, mRNA-LNP based dengue vaccines, chemo-attenuated malaria vaccines, and nanoplasmid-based dengue vaccines.
* **IND-Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Ind-CEPI):**
* Operates under a tripartite Engagement Strategy with DBT and BIRAC (formalized September 2025) for a five-year framework to bolster India's vaccine development capabilities against potential outbreaks.
**Impact Analysis**
* **Public Health Sector:**
* **Impact:** Enhanced capacity for disease detection, reporting, and response to zoonotic disease outbreaks. Development of advanced diagnostic tools and vaccines will improve public health preparedness and reduce disease burden.
* **Action Required:** Continue to utilize and strengthen the IDSP and IDSP-IHIP platforms for surveillance and data collection. Implement findings from vaccine research and development to mitigate future outbreaks.
* **Research and Development Institutions (DBT, CSIR, BRIC, BIRAC):**
* **Impact:** Increased focus and funding for research into zoonotic diseases and vaccine development. Collaboration with national and international partners is strengthened.
* **Action Required:** Continue ongoing research initiatives as outlined. Expedite the development and testing of vaccine candidates. Pursue patent applications and explore commercialization pathways for successful developments.
* **General Public:**
* **Impact:** Ultimately benefits from improved public health security due to better preparedness against zoonotic diseases and the availability of advanced medical countermeasures. Increased awareness campaigns may also lead to better personal protection.
* **Action Required:** Remain informed about public health advisories and disease prevention measures.
Key Entities Referenced
Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP): A program launched by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to enhance early warning and prompt response to disease outbreaks across the country.
Ministry of Science & Technology: A ministry involved in research and development of vaccines for zoonotic diseases, including initiatives through its departments like DBT and CSIR.
Department of Biotechnology (DBT): A department under the Ministry of Science & Technology, facilitating innovation-driven research and funding for R&D in animal-borne disease vaccines.
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare: The ministry that launched the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP).
Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC): A non-profit public sector enterprise under the Department of Biotechnology that provides critical funding for healthcare R&D, with a focus on animal-borne disease vaccines.
Ministry of Science & Technology
PARLIAMENT QUESTION: ZOONOTIC DISEASES
Posted On: 11 MAR 2026 5:04PM by PIB Delhi
The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India has launched Integrated Disease
Surveillance Program (IDSP), to enhance early warning and prompt response to disease outbreaks across
the country. Some of the common zoonotic diseases reported under IDSP are Scrub typhus, Leptospirosis,
Human Rabies, Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), Nipah
Virus Disease, and West Nile Fever.
The year wise details of KFD, Leptospirosis and Scrub Typhus cases reported by the States/UTs on L-
form under IDSP-IHIP(Integrated Disease Surveillance Program - Integrated Health Information
Platform) is annexed as Annexure-I.
State/UTs wise details of cases reported during outbreaks of West Nile Fever, Nipah Virus Disease, CCHF
and Human Rabies since 2022 is annexed as Annexure-II.
Possible reasons for increase (if any) in animal- borne diseases in the country may be because of enhanced
capacity building, better trained health workers, strengthened diagnostic facilities, and expanded
awareness campaigns that have led to better detection and reporting of cases. Additionally, factors such as
the expanding human–wildlife interfaces, rapid urbanization, and climate variability continue to drive
these increasing trends.
The details of the efforts being made by the Government, for the development of vaccines in this
regard is given below.
Department/Ministry InitiativesDepartment of 1. BRIC-Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB),
Biotechnology, Ministry Thiruvananthapuram is exploring the potency of the innate immune
of Science & Technology response to limit rabies virus and alongside exploring strategies to target
rabies virus both from a vaccine angle and also from a therapeutic point.
2. BRIC-RGCB is also working on advanced multi-antigenic DNA and
circular RNA (circRNA)-based vaccines for dengue and Zika viruses.
3. BRIC- Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (BRIC-
THSTI) and BRIC- RGCB are jointly working on Monoclonal Antibodies
Against Nipah Virus and have filed provisional patent in India
(Application No.: 202411037094 filed on May 10, 2024) and Bangladesh
(Application No. 167/2025 12 May, 2025).
4. The BRIC-National Institute of Immunology (BRIC-NII), is advancing
the development of two next-generation, fully indigenous vaccine
candidates for Japanese encephalitis and dengue.
5. The BRIC-National Institute of Immunology (BRIC-NII) is also
working with EU research groups in a collaboration to develop two next-
generation influenza vaccines: (i). Computationally optimised broadly
reactive antigen (COBRA) vaccine, and (ii). Antigen-presenting cell
targeting DNA (APC-mix) vaccine. These universal next-generation
vaccines will be able to provide protection to humans from any emerging
strains of the influenza virus, including strains emerging from pigs or
birds.
6. BRIC-National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (BRIC-NIAB) is
carrying out research towards the identification of potential vaccine
candidates against animal-borne diseases such as brucellosis,leptospirosis,
tuberculosis, paratuberculosis, toxoplasmosis, and rabies, primarily for
use in animals.
7. BRIC-National Centre for Cell Science (BRIC-NCCS) along with
IISER Bhopal has been working on Nipah vaccine candidate and testing
its efficacy in murine models. Additionally they have also generated
chimeric antibodies against Nipah proteins for diagnostic application
Council of Scientific & The CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) is
Industrial Research, working on highly pathogenic avian influenza. While these viruses cause
Ministry of Science and high mortality in poultry and pose a zoonotic risk to humans, there have
Technology been no human outbreaks or spikes in cases reported over the past year.To
strengthen public health preparedness, the institute has established
standardized environmental surveillance protocols for detecting the virus
in wastewater, lakes, poultry farm perimeters, and migratory bird habitats.
These sustainable monitoring frameworks are designed to provide early
warnings to government authorities, enabling proactive measures to
prevent large-scale outbreaks.In addition to these efforts, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) facilitates innovation-driven research
through Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), its non-profit Public Sector
Enterprise. BIRAC provides critical funding for healthcare R&D, with a specific focus on animal-borne
disease vaccines via the following mechanisms:
Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG): This program funds diverse biotechnology projects, including those
focused on pathogens of animal origin.
List of BIG-supported projects related to vaccine development for animal-borne disease:
S. No. Start-up / Grantee Name Project Title
1 GenironBiolabs Private Limited, Bengaluru, Bicistronic self-replicating DNA vaccine
Karnataka, India for rabies and immunocontraception in
stray dogs
2 Pentavalent Bio Sciences Private Limited, PentaFluVac: An indigenous replication-
Bengaluru, Karnataka incompetent viral vaccine for avian, swine
and human influenza
3 Amaterasu Lifesciences LLP, Mumbai, Innovative single dose injection therapy for
Maharashtra treatment of malaria- SiDMI Single Dose
Anti-Malaria Injection
4 Dr. Swetha Raghavan, Bengaluru, Karnataka Development of an mRNA-LNP based
vaccine against Dengue
5 Muffin Health and Lifestyle Private Limited, Chemo attenuated Blood Stage Malaria
Chandigarh Vaccine
6 Mr. Arun Sankaradoss, Bengaluru, Karnataka Novel AdjuvantedNanoplasmid based DNA
vaccine development for dengue viruses:
Opportunities to expand the platform for
emerging infectious diseases and one
health
IND-Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)Tasked with developing vaccines for
emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), Ind-CEPI operates in alignment with global CEPI priorities. Under a
tripartite Engagement Strategy formalized in September 2025, the DBT, BIRAC, and CEPI have
established a five-year cooperative framework to bolster India’s vaccine development competencies
against potential outbreaks.
This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent charge) for the Ministry of Science and
Technology & Earth Sciences Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
*****
NKR/MJ/NM
Annexure-ICases of Selected Zoonotic diseases reported in India during 2022–2026* on the IDSP–IHIP portal,
based on L form.
Year Kyasanur Forest Leptospirosis Scrub Typhus
Disease
Cases Cases Cases
2022 54 10191 32364
2023 23 14217 55077
2024 373 18997 70366
2025 197 19073 86895
2026* 80 2306 10861
Grand Total 727 64784 255563
Data extraction from IDSP -IHIP portal as on date 06/03/2026 at 3:25 PM
*For Year 2025, till 6th Mar 2026.
Annexure-II
Cases reported in Zoonotic Disease Outbreaks reported in IDSP during 2022-2026*
Name of Disease State/UT 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026*
West Nile Fever Kerala 2 9 5 6 -
Nipah Virus Disease Kerala - 6 2 4 -
West Bengal - - - - 2
CCHF Gujarat 4 6 - 3 2
Rajasthan - - 1 - -Human Rabies Arunachal Pradesh - 2 4 3 -
Assam 1 12 14 6 -
Jammu & Kashmir - 1 3 6 -
Jharkhand - - 2 - -
Karnataka 10 21 5 - -
Madhya Pradesh - - 1 7 -
Maharashtra - - 1 1 -
Manipur - - 4 3 -
Meghalaya - 9 13 10 -
Nagaland - - 1 4 -
Tamil Nadu - - 2 1 -
Uttar Pradesh - - - 3 -
West Bengal - - - 1 -
Note * 2026 till wk-3 ending on 18/01/2026.
Blank Cell shows no Outbreak reported in the respective year.
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