COCCI News

Product updates and industry trends

A new web site providing an informative source of information about maintaining intestinal health in poultry has been launched by Schering-Plough Animal Health.

The site, www.intestinalhealthpoultry.com, provides visitors with an overview of the challenges facing poultry producers "specifically public concern about food safety and the problems with traditional coccidiosis control programs.

It offers solutions from Schering-Plough Animal Health and emphasizes the company's commitment to helping producers meet demand for drug-free food production by improved management of intestinal health.

With sections in English and Spanish, the web site also provides an overview of Schering-Plough Animal Health's coccidiosis vaccines, as well as SprayCox administration equipment and the growth promoter, Enradin.

In time, visitors will also be able to access past issue of CocciForum magazine, as well as relevant key Technical Service Bulletins.

AirMix Technology Debuts in Atlanta

Townsend at the International Poultry Expo with the clear jug and new AirMix technology available for the SprayCox spray cabinet.

Schering-Plough Animal Health's new AirMix technology for keeping coccidiosis vaccine oocysts in suspension during spray vaccination was unveiled at the International Poultry Expo in Atlanta.

"The response has been very positive," says company engineer Paul Townsend. "Basically, the first thing they notice is that you can actually see the vaccine in the bottle. You can see it being mixed "and that's a real positive. With the old system, the only way you could really tell if it was mixing was to remove the lid and looking down inside. So this makes it real foolproof. That's really the goal behind going to a system like this."

Upgrading existing SprayCox spray cabinets to AirMix technology is quick and easy. It's just a matter of changing out the container and putting on a new pump to supply air to the bottle, which plugs into the machine.

Townsend says the presence of air does not increase the chance for vaccine contamination. "We have a filter in the line to clean the air before it gets into the bottle," he explains. "We left nothing to chance."

Challenge work was conducted by Dr. Steve Fitz-Coy, a technical service rep for the company known worldwide for his expertise in coccidiosis. AirMix will be available in the US this spring and in other markets later this year.

Proper Handling of Vaccine Essential for Good Results

Proper vaccine handling is crucial to obtain the best results with live oocyst vaccines such as Paracox and Coccivac, cautions Dr. Charlie Broussard, worldwide technical services director, Schering-Plough Animal Health.

The oocysts in the vaccine are sensitive to environmental temperature. The vaccine should be maintained between +2° C and +8° C (36°- 47° F) throughout shipping, storage and subsequent transport to farm or hatchery, Broussard says.

"Watch out for uneven temperatures in a refrigerator that could result in partial freezing of the product, especially if it's kept near the top, bottom or back of the unit," he says.

"Even if you see just a few ice crystals in the liquid, toss the vial. Even partial freezing can destroy enough of the oocysts to impair vaccine efficacy," Broussard adds.

Danish Authorities OK Paracox™-5 After Rigorous Testing

Schering-Plough Animal Health has secured regulatory approval to sell its coccidiosis vaccine for broilers, Paracox™-5, in Denmark.

Even though Paracox™-5 has been registered throughout the EU since 2000 and despite significant sales in many of the markets, the vaccine could not be sold in Denmark because of testing requirements and problems unique to that country, explains Rod Watson, regional senior director for Europe and the Middle East, Schering-Plough Animal Health Denmark has a national screening and eradication program for Newcastle disease virus (NDV) that involves in vivo testing for extraneous agents. The test, however, takes several months to complete, beyond the shelf life of Paracox™-5.

Even though all Paracox vaccines are produced in disease-free birds in a GMP plant in an NDV-free country, and even though every single batch is tested for extraneous agents, Danish authorities wanted to abide by the rules of their own program, says Watson.
In addition, if testing according to the Danish program turned up a false positive, then supplies of Paracox™-5 could have been delayed throughout Europe, he says.