Status, challenges, and future prospects of veterinary vaccines for sustainable livestock production in Bangladesh

Background and Aim: Veterinary vaccines are crucial tools for preventing infectious diseases, boosting animal productivity, and supporting sustainable livestock farming. This review examines the current status, challenges, and future outlook of veterinary vaccine development, production, and use in Bangladesh. The livestock sector in Bangladesh is vital for food security, rural livelihoods, and the national economy, contributing about 1.8% to the gross domestic product and supporting millions of farmers. Yet, the sector continues to suffer significant losses from infectious diseases such as foot-and-Mouth Disease, Peste des Petits ruminants, anthrax, hemorrhagic septicemia, Newcastle disease, and avian influenza. Therefore, effective vaccination programs are essential for disease control and improving livestock productivity. Bangladesh has gradually increased its veterinary vaccine production capacity through institutions such as the Livestock Research Institute and the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute, with growing participation from private pharmaceutical companies. Over the past decade, vaccine production has risen from approximately 236 million doses in 2015–2016 to about 327 million doses in 2024–2025. Despite this progress, domestic production still falls short of meeting national demand. Current estimates show that locally produced vaccines cover only about 23%–27% of the demand for ruminant vaccines and roughly 6%–13% for poultry vaccines, leading to a heavy dependence on imported vaccines. Major challenges facing the veterinary vaccine sector include limited production capacity, outdated manufacturing infrastructure, lack of advanced vaccine technologies, regulatory hurdles, weak cold-chain logistics, and insufficient investment in research and development. Nevertheless, Bangladesh has significant opportunities to strengthen its veterinary vaccine ecosystem. Advances in molecular biology, recombinant vaccine technologies, genomic surveillance, and thermostable vaccine development offer promising pathways to improve vaccine efficacy and accessibility. Additionally, better collaboration between public institutions, academia, and private industry, along with supportive government policies and stronger regulatory frameworks, could greatly expand local vaccine production and lessen reliance on imports. Overall, strengthening veterinary vaccine research, manufacturing capacity, quality assurance systems, and distribution infrastructure is crucial for achieving sustainable livestock production in Bangladesh. Improved vaccine access and coverage will not only boost livestock productivity but also support food security, reduce economic losses, and contribute to national and global One Health goals. Keywords: Bangladesh, disease control, import dependency, livestock production, One Health, vaccine production, veterinary vaccines, zoonotic diseases.