MSD Animal Health launches respiratory disease programme for poultry

MSD Animal Health has announced the launch of the new vaccination programme that farmers will be able to use to protect their poultry from respiratory diseases.

The new Convenience Programme helps poultry farmers to select the right combinations of vaccines and the most favorable route of application from a young age, helping to reduce stress and improve breathing from the hatchery onwards.

Combining in-ovo and day-old vaccination applications, the programme offers earlier and more long-lasting protection, taking advantage of MSD Animal Health's range of vaccines with biological behaviours, which can be combined without losing efficacy and without producing adverse reactions.

MSD Animal Health will be offering extensive support to users of the Convenience Programme to ensure it delivers the maximum impact on flock performance.

Dr Rik Koopman, MSD's global technical director, explained: "Conventional respiratory vaccines themselves may reduce flock performance due to reactions or cause incomplete protection and insufficient duration of immunity."

Last month, the company announced study data supporting the efficacy of intradermal administration of its new mycoplasma vaccines for swine.