Does your dose do it? Real protection against Erysipelas
With last summer's outbreaks of disease in the Midwest, producers and veterinarians got a rude reminder that Erysipelas is still around! Even when pigs don't die, Erysipelas infections produce lameness, reduced gain, and trim loss. For example, over a quarter of the swollen joints at slaughter may be damaged by Erysipelas. The advent of live vaccines administered in drinking water offers pig friendly methods to control or prevent those outbreaks.
Proof of performance
To carry a label claim for protection against Erysipelas, licensed vaccines must demonstrate immunity following vaccination. Newer vaccines also demonstrate duration of protection over a given time frame following that one dose. Part of the mechanism for generating lasting immunity to Erysipelas is the vaccine dose…higher doses correlate to better protection. For example, in experimental studies where a one-third dose of vaccine was given to pigs, they lost the clear protection edge that a full dose provided. One-eighth dose gave no significant protection at all.
Why is this important? Because not all oral vaccines contain the same amount of protective vaccine! Other live vaccines have one-third or less of the protective antigen per dose that Ingelvac
Only one single dose Ery
Ingelvac ERY-ALC is the only vaccine for Erysipelas that has rapid onset and long lasting protection from a single dose. In challenge studies, 60% of pigs were protected only six days following vaccination. In those cases where outbreaks are imminent, this fast protection can mean the difference between death loss and getting pigs to market.
For at least 128 days after vaccination, pigs are also solidly protected from challenge. When vaccinated at eight weeks of age, 90% of pigs receiving one dose of Ingelvac ERY-ALC had no signs when challenged. Seventy-six percent of pigs vaccinated at five weeks of age were completely protected also. Few vaccinated pigs showed any signs of the disease, and only one vaccinated pig died. In contrast, 100% of control pigs had clinical signs of infection, such as high fevers and lameness, and 50% died within a week. These were pigs challenged at over 160 days of age…market weight pigs were dramatically protected by Ingelvac Ery-ALC.
Be safe this summer. Protect your finishing pig investment all the way to market with Ingelvac ERY-ALC!
PRRS transmission
PRRS virus may be transmitted from positive to negative pigs on contaminated materials — clothes, boots, etc. — as well as via needles. In half the cases examined, these contaminated items successfully spread virus into rooms of negative pigs. In a subsequent field test, PRRS virus placed into a cold environment (a snowball!) was tracked from a contaminated vehicle all the way to a simulated farm entrance room in eight of ten replicates.
Virus may be spread from positive farms into negative herds on contaminated materials — clothes, shoes, semen coolers, etc. Isolating farms, requiring down time for visitors, etc., may be a waste of energy if contaminated materials bring new viruses into a farm!
To BIVI
Contact Information
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc.
2621 North Belt
Highway, St. Joseph, MO 64506-2002
Phone numbers
Order Entry:
1-800-325-9167
Fax Line:
1-816-236-2717
www.bi-vetmedica.com
Ingelvac is a registered trademark of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, GmbH, Ingelheim, Germany.
More information
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. Study 40.98.01.
An investigation of bacterial causes of arthritis in slaughter hogs. Hariharan H, et al. J Vet Diagn Invest. 4:28-30 (1992).