DG ICAR Envisions National Livestock Disease Intelligence Hub at ICAR-NIVEDI, Bengaluru

Dr M.L. Jat laid foundation stone of Livestock Disease Training Laboratory and calls for strengthened surveillance and validated disease forecasts

31 October 2026, Bengaluru

Dr ML Jat, Secretary, DARE and Director General, ICAR, during his maiden visit to ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Bengaluru, envisioned the establishment of a National Livestock Disease Intelligence Hub to strengthen India's livestock disease surveillance, early warning and preparedness. Appreciating the Institute's contributions to national livestock disease control programmes, he assured ICAR's support for strengthening the infrastructure and scientific capabilities required for this initiative.

Dr Jat laid the foundation stone of the Livestock Disease Training Laboratory, being established under the INLEAD programme, in the presence of Dr Raghavendra Bhatta, Deputy Director General (Animal Science), ICAR, and Dr Baldev R. Gulati, Director, ICAR-NIVEDI. The facility will strengthen capacity building in veterinary epidemiology, disease informatics, modelling and applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for generating actionable disease intelligence.

During the review, Dr Gulati highlighted the Institute's contributions to the eradication of rinderpest from India and its continuing scientific support to national control programmes for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), peste des petits ruminants (PPR), classical swine fever (CSF) and brucellosis through surveillance, sampling and seromonitoring. He also presented the Institute's National Animal Disease Referral Expert System (NADRES), which forecasts district-level risks of 15 livestock diseases two months in advance, and emerging approaches for predicting transboundary and emerging disease threats.

Emphasizing the need to translate scientific outputs into effective disease control strategies, Dr Jat called for rigorous validation of disease forecasts and establishment of sentinel surveillance sites in every State for early detection of priority livestock diseases. He suggested integrating animal production and nutritional parameters with disease surveillance through collaboration with ICAR institutes, particularly NIANP and NDRI, to better understand the relationships between animal health, productivity and disease risks.

Commending ICAR-NIVEDI's achievements, the Director General encouraged stronger inter-institutional collaboration and urged scientists and staff to uphold "Responsibility, Accountability and Transparency". Describing NIVEDI as one of the "star institutes" of the ICAR family, he expressed confidence in its potential to emerge as a Global Centre of Excellence in Animal Health.

During the visit, Dr Jat toured the Institute's WOAH Reference Laboratory for PPR, Disease Informatics Unit and NaaViC agribusiness incubation centre, and interacted with scientists and staff. He also planted saplings on the campus in the presence of Dr Raghavendra Bhatta, Dr Tusar Kanti Behera, Director, ICAR-IIHR, Dr Pallab Chaudhury, Joint Director, ICAR-IVRI Regional Campus, and ICAR-NIVEDI scientists and staff.

(Source: ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Bengaluru)