April 25, 2009

Intervet/Schering-Plough launches new swine vaccine in Europe

Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health announced the introduction in Europe of its PORCILIS PCV vaccine against porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infection.

The new vaccine has been designed to provide a solution for the prevention and management of Porcine Circo Virus-associated Disease (PCVD), a major cause of economic loss in the pig sector. After having gained experience in Germany and Austria on a limited scale, the vaccine will now be introduced in the whole of Europe.

The major advantages of PORCILIS PCV are that it contains the ORF2 subunit as antigen and therefore induces strong immunity against PCV2 infection; it is combined with Xsolve, a proven adjuvant offering long-lasting immunity until the end of the fattening period; and it carries the claim to be able to break through medium-to-high levels of maternally-derived antibodies in piglets.

Infection with PCV2 is known to cause a variety of syndromes in pigs, together known as PCVD. Symptoms may include clinical signs such as weight loss or failure to grow, enlarged lymph nodes, difficulty in breathing, pale skin and jaundice. Field trials with PORCILIS PCV have demonstrated that vaccination of pigs at three weeks of age or older not only appears to prevent viremia (presence of virus in the blood and lymphoid tissues), but also reduces weight loss associated with PCV2 infection during the fattening period.