Dhaka, Feb 23 (IANS): Bangladeshi Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdur Rahman has said the government has a plan to produce foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccine for livestock locally as the current local vaccine market for FMD is growing rapidly.

"The government has a plan to produce FMD vaccine for the livestock locally instead of importing," said the minister during a question-answer session at the National Parliament on Thursday, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) reported.

The minister said this type of vaccine would be produced locally soon and a decision has been taken to build a research center for manufacturing it, Xinhua news agency reported quoting BSS.

"The FMD is a major challenge for the livestock sector in Bangladesh," he said, adding that at present the country meets the demand for vaccines mostly by import. "Most animals infected with FMD still remain untreated due to the unavailability of the vaccine."

Being a home-grown product, he also said, the new vaccine will be more effective and cost-effective than imported ones. "In many cases, imported vaccines have been proved fruitless for the livestock."

The vaccine is expected to help boost the country's livestock sector as the disease incurs a loss of 125 million U.S. dollars per year.

He said the price per unit vaccine will be halved when they start manufacturing those in the country.