August 11, 2006

Asia's first Marek's disease vaccine plant begins construction in Luoyang

Construction of Asia's first commercial plant to produce vaccines against Marek's disease--a common poultry disease--has started in Luoyang High-Tech Industrial Park in northern China on Aug 9.

Although China is one of the world's leading poultry producers, it is not a major exporter of poultry products. The country's poultry exports only account for 3 percent of its total output of poultry products.

Doubts about the country's ability to maintain acceptable standards of farm hygiene and in implementing effective measures against animal disease outbreaks has made its poultry product exports less popular in the world's market.

In preventing Marek's disease, which is an infectious poultry disease than can cause tumours in poultry animals' organs and often result in deaths, China's farmers has to rely on imports of vaccines.

All this will change as Luoyang Pu-Like Bio-engineering Co Ltd has developed a vaccine against the debilitating poultry disease. Pu-Like will join forces with French company, Ceva Sante Animale to help China realise its first commercial production of the vaccine.

This development is seen beneficial to poultry farmers in China, as it will translate into reduced cost of production and help more of them in building up their flock's immunity against the disease. Currently, vaccines against the disease are only produced in five other manufacturing plants around the world. 

Costing US$12.1 million in initial investments, the Luoyang plant will be ready in eight months. It will be capable of producing vaccines worth US$15 million annually.