MLBA16: August / September 2010

 

 

 

 

Animal health issue is once again in the news in Thailand after Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) recently killed a large number of pigs in the country's northeastern provinces of Nong Khai and Nakhon Phanom. A bird-flu epidemic late last year, which killed an undetermined number of layers, helped contribute to the current egg shortage in the kingdom – although a severe drought early this year also played a big part in it.

 

Against this backdrop is a flourishing THB16-billion (US$495 million) animal health products industry. In fact, according to Nackanun Chitaroon, president of the Animal Health Products Association, Thailand has the biggest animal health market share in the world, comprising about 20-30% of the country's total pharmaceutical industry. In the US, by comparison, the market share of animal health products is less than 5% of the entire pharmaceutical sector.

 

But despite this robust participation in Thailand's livestock industry, the animal health products sector appears helpless in containing perennially recurring animal diseases such as bird flu, PRRS and foot-and-mouth diseases, among other things.