Flexibility for farmers as new Schmallenberg vaccine made available
1st April 2014
Options for vaccinating sheep against Schmallenberg have increased, with Merial Animal Health’s launch of SBVvax today (1st April).
As with Bovilis SBV, the vaccine release by MSD Animal Health last year, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has granted SBVvax a provisional licence in order to get the product to market without many years of lengthy testing.
SBVvax is approved for use in sheep and cattle, with one dose needed to protect sheep and two doses (three weeks apart) for cattle. The vaccine is licensed for use in non- pregnant animals from 2.5 months of age and onset of immunity has been demonstrated three weeks after the primary vaccination course.
One of the limitations of the provisional licences for both available Schmallenberg vaccines is that the manufacturers do not yet know if its product protects stock for life or needs an annual booster. The licence for SBVvax states that the vaccine prevents viraemia in sheep and cattle, whereas the licence for Bovilis SBV states it reduces viraemia is sheep and cattle.
Findlay MacBean, Merial’s Head of Large Animal Business, says: “SBVvax will provide a cost-effective solution for those producers who want to protect their flocks pre-tupping over the coming months. We also believe that it will be a useful tool for beef or dairy farmers bringing replacements into their herds and vaccinating cows prior to bulling.”
Phil Stocker, NSA Chief Executive, says: “It is great to have two products on the market for sheep farmers who are worried about the risk of Schmallenberg infection to their flocks. NSA applauds VMD for granting provisional licences in the way it has, as the rapid emergence of Schmallenberg meant we could have gone for months , if not years, with no protection has we had to wait for full licences. It will be interesting to see if the arrival of a second vaccine in the marketplace introduces some competition on price.”
