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MSD Animal Health (known as Merck Animal Health in the United States and Canada) today announced that the European Commission has approved PORCILIS® PCV ID, an intradermal vaccine against porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) that is administered with the needle-free IDAL® vaccine delivery system. With this addition to the company’s line of intradermal vaccines, swine producers will now have access to intradermal needle-free protection against PCV2, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M. hyo) and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus (PRRSv), the three major swine diseases affecting pig operations worldwide.
“The skin is a natural defense barrier, containing many essential immune cells and thus making it a very suitable and effective route of vaccine administration,” explains Dr. Ruud Segers, MSD Animal Health Research & Development. “We are focusing our R&D efforts on the development of vaccines that would benefit from being administered intradermally.”
“Animal well-being is important to us. Needle-free vaccination is not only more convenient for producers, but is also less invasive for the animals and prevents accidental spread of disease caused by reusing needles. In addition, the risk of breaking needles is also eliminated,” said Narciso Bento, head of the Global Swine Business Unit. “We are pleased to introduce the first intradermal vaccine against porcine circovirus type 2, and to expand our line of swine vaccines that can be conveniently administered with the IDAL needle-free device.”
PORCILIS PCV ID protects piglets starting two weeks after vaccination and offers 23 weeks of protection, the longest duration of immunity of any porcine circovirus vaccine in the EU market. The vaccine is approved for concurrent use with MSD Animal Health’s PORCILIS M Hyo ID ONCE, which protects piglets against M. hyo infections. Because concurrent infection with PCV2 and M. hyo is present in the vast majority of swine operations worldwide and together they are responsible for severe respiratory disease and production losses, vaccination against both pathogens/diseases is recommended to minimize economic losses.
Results from field studies demonstrate that vaccinating piglets intradermally with PORCILIS PCV ID results in uninterrupted growth during the nursery period, and improve the daily weight gain and mortality associated with PCV2 infection during the fattening period. When applied concurrently with PORCILIS M Hyo ID ONCE, a further increase in ADWG as well as a reduction of M. hyo-like lung lesion scores at slaughter have been demonstrated.
November 5, 2015 - MSD
MSD Animal Health