How to choose FMD vaccine for cattle vaccination?
How to choose FMD vaccine for cattle vaccination?
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is one of the most contagious diseases of animals, and an outbreak can have severe economic consequences. It affects cattle, sheep, goats and other cloven-hoofed animals. FMD remains endemic in many countries in most parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East impacting millions of people dependent on livestock for food and their livelihood.
FMD control and/or eradication measures have been in existence for many years in different regions, supported by an official World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) system for recognition of national control programmes and of country status in order to manage the trade risks. A global FMD control strategy was announced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and OIE in 2012, incorporating a progressive control pathway for FMD (PCP-FMD) that elaborates principles for the application of control measures in a step-wise manner.
Vaccination is an important component of programmes that seek to reduce the impacts of FMD and to block circulation of the causative virus in order to establish and maintain disease freedom.
What should we know to choose relevant FMD vaccine?
Vaccine is one of the main tools proven to better manage or eliminate the disease when properly applied and with desirable quality and composition. It is imperative that up-to-date information on circulating virus strains in any geographical location be known for selection of appropriate vaccine strains. Since immunity to FMDV is serotype specific, and even within serotypes crossprotection between strains may be incomplete, the aim is to select a vaccine that incorporates one or more vaccine strains that are able to induce protective immunity against a threat or threats from one or more circulating virus strains. Only an inactivated FMD vaccine may be used in the animal vaccination.
Thus, selection of an appropriate vaccine in terms of quality and strain composition is a prerequisite for a successful vaccination programme, without which all other efforts will be in vain.
Another important point in choosing FMD vaccine is proper transport and storage. The vaccine should be in vials and transported in thermo regulated containers. Because vaccines have specific temperature requirements (2–8°C), an effective cold chain and logistics management system prevents both excessive heat and cold from damaging the vaccines from the time of manufacturing until they are used. The temperature requirements should be maintained during storage, transport and handling of vaccines from the time of leaving the manufacturing facilities until the vaccine is used.
The ideal vaccine will provide a broad range of protection against multiple threats. Whether or not protective levels of immunity can be induced will depend upon three main independently variable factors such as the potency of the vaccine, the antigenic match between the vaccine strain and the field strain, and the vaccination schedule.
For example, a highly potent vaccine may cross-protect against a wide range of different strains and give relatively long-lasting immunity after a single dose. In contrast, a vaccine with a low potency will induce an antigenically narrow and short-lived protection, but, if a second round of vaccination, one month after the first dose, has been given, the boost in antibodies will contribute to broader and longer-lasting protection.
FMD vaccines should be produced in accordance with OIE standards – Chapters 1.1.6 (Principles of veterinary vaccine production) and 2.1.5 (FMD vaccine) of the OIE Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals (Terrestrial Manual) and the relevant national standards including pharmacopoeia requirements.
Therefore, in FMD control programmes using vaccines, the quality of the vaccines, combined with the correct selection of virus strains, are of utmost importance.
Reasons to choose Shchelkovo biocombinat FMD vaccine
Shchelkovo biocombinat is a Russian leader in development and production vaccines against FMD and provision of veterinary services. With more than 90 years of experience and special focus on animal health, we aim to make the best products for veterinarians and owners of livestock enterprises around the world.
Shchelkovo biocombinat has a wide variety of FMD vaccine strains in its collection for endemic territories of the Middle East, Africa and Asia. We always replenish our archive with new, actual strains (types). It gives opportunities to produce finished vaccine for each country according to their demands. FMD vaccine is used to active immunization of cattle against FMD, for disease control by routine vaccination in endemic areas, for limiting the spread of the disease during outbreaks. Our vaccines are inactivated, safe and effective for using in vaccination strategies.
Advantages of Shchelkovo biocombinat FMD vaccine:
• High quality of vaccine
• Flexible production
• Optimal logistics
Products derived from vaccinated animals are safe for human consumption. Thereby the vaccination is the best way to prevent spread of FMD.