Ceva is a Spanish-based veterinary health business that manufactures a range of pharmaceutical products and vaccines used in intensive farming across 110 countries.
The company hosted the poultry vaccine summit in Barcelona this week and put forward its view that vaccination offers more long-term protection and prevention of animal disease than antibiotics may be able to offer.
It claimed widespread use of new technologically-advanced vaccines can provide more than just short-term disease prevention; they can significantly cut disease occurrence in the first place and therefore lower the probability of livestock contracting diseases like avian influenza.
Antibiotic ‘challenges’
Some of the new vaccines that Ceva noted as being able to offer this kind of protection include Transmune, Vectormune ND and Vectormune AI.
“On-farm trials and associated work froCeva m scientists and poultry producers have shown that consistent, correct application of new technology vaccines allows producers to both control and reduce disease burden for both present and future flocks,” said Dr Sylvain Comte, Ceva’s global marketing director, speaking at the Barcelona summit. “This reduces the risk of clinical or subclinical sickness and therefore the likelihood that birds will need to be treated with antibiotics.
“This innovative approach aims to ensure that poultry farms are healthier and less exposed to bacterial infections, fulfilling the joint needs of the consumer and the poultry producers. Ceva will continue to contribute to improved bird health status and help the industry to face the new challenges of antibiotic-free production.”
For disease control, antibiotics have been favoured by the poultry industry for over 80 years, said Ceva. But a global push for poultry production to become antibiotic free – as seen by the US firm GNP Company – has thrown up a raft of “challenges and potential welfare issues” for the industry, claims Ceva.