Merck Animal Health has obtained regulatory approval from the US Department of Agriculture for Coccivac®-D2 – a new-generation version of a coccidiosis vaccine that has been used successfully in billions of broiler-breeders and commercial layers worldwide. It will replace Coccivac-D.

Charlie Broussard, DVM, director of US poultry technical services, said: "Coccivac-D2 builds on the field-proven performance and dependability of Coccivac-D, but its spectrum is even more in step with the Eimeria populations found in today’s broiler-breeder and layer operations."

He explained that Coccivac-D2 has a more focused antigen profile of the six major species of chicken coccidia – E. tenella, E. mivati, E. acervulina, E. maxima, E. brunetti and E. necatrix.

He added: "We eliminated E. hagani and E. praecox, two of the least important pathogenic Eimeria species of the chicken."

As with all Coccivac vaccines, Coccivac-D2 provides a balanced, controlled dose of live Eimeria oocysts to stimulate the bird's natural immunity against this costly and highly prevalent disease. Coccivac-D2 is currently available in 5,000-dose and 1,000-dose vials.

The development of Coccivac-D2 is the result of Merck Animal Health's ongoing commitment to quality control. As part of this process, all master seeds used to produce the vaccinal oocysts in Coccivac-D2 were tested for purity, quality and re-qualified by USDA. This new product will also help streamline production and result in a more efficient manufacturing process for Merck Animal Health coccidiosis vaccines for poultry.

For more information, producers and veterinarians in the US should contact their Merck Animal Health representative or call Customer Service at 1-800-356-7470.

Further Reading

-

Find out more information on coccidiosis by clicking here.