Inactivated IB variant vaccine launched by Intervet
The latest addition to the Intervet range of vaccines, and the fifth poultry vaccine to be launched by the company in the last 12 months, is NOBILIS® IBmulti+ND+EDS. This new product is the UK’s first inactivated IB variant vaccine for layers and is expected to be a welcome relief to many egg producers, following what is suspected to be an industry-wide increase in Infectious Bronchitis variant challenge.
NOBILIS® IBmulti+ND+EDS is licensed for use in both layers and breeders and contains the Massachusetts and D274 IB serotypes. It also contains Clone 30 strain of Newcastle Disease (ND) and Egg Drop Syndrome (EDS) ’76 virus. Given the rise in importance of variant serotypes, the ‘protectotype’ range offered by this new vaccine is likely to become a key feature in Infectious Bronchitis control.
Poultry vet Paul McMullin MVB DPMP MRCVS, highlights the benefits of an inactivated IB variant vaccine: “Infectious Bronchitis is caused by a coronavirus. Because coronaviruses of chickens are highly variable in their surface structure or ‘spike proteins’, they are able to cause infection in birds which have been immunised against standard or Massachusetts-type Infectious Bronchitis viruses. Viruses which succeed in causing infection and disease in well vaccinated birds are usually called ‘variants’. These viruses are designated by a confusing array of names, such as 793/B, D1466, D274, Con, Ark and so on. A range of live vaccines such as Nobilis 4/91 has helped us broaden the IB protection achieved in recent years. However there is a limit to the number of different live vaccines which may be applied because of the available time during rear and the potential for one live vaccine to interfere with another. An inactivated vaccine with the D274 variant should help broaden and prolong the protection achieved by live vaccination programmes, without the risk of putting another live virus into the population. A similar vaccine has been in use in breeding birds for eight years with very satisfactory results. ”
NOBILIS® IBmulti+ND+EDS is a multivalent inactivated vaccine. Birds to be vaccinated should first be primed with ND and IB live vaccines according to individual manufacturers’ recommendations. Vaccination with NOBILIS® IBmulti+ND+EDS should then take place between 16-20 weeks which, the company claims, will provide birds with protection for at least one laying period.
The new vaccine is supplied in 1,000-dose 500ml bottles. For additional information please contact your poultry veterinarian or Intervet’s poultry department on 01908 685249, or email poultry.uk@intervet.com.
