Lamb Vaccination Guidance

Think ahead

Plan lamb vaccination timings now.

The makers of the bluetongue vaccine Bovilis® BTV8, Intervet, is urgingsheep farmers to plan routine sheep and lamb vaccination programmes as to ensure lambs receive their bluetongue vaccine as soon as they are able to be dosed, yet their routine vaccinations are not forgotten.
Many young lambs will be due their Ovivac-P Plus® vaccine soon and, as the Protection Zone (PZ) area moves, may also be receiving their Bovilis BTV8 vaccine.  Advice is that a gap of two weeks should be left before and after bluetongue vaccination, making it essential to plan clostridial disease and pasteurella vaccine timing  now.
Intervet’s advice is to vaccinate for bluetongue as soon as your unit is defined as within the PZ , but plan routine vaccination course(such as Ovivac-P Plus) for as soon as is possible afterwards if they have not been previously completed.
Vaccinating lambs against pasteurella and clostridial diseases requirestwo doses, the first at no less than three weeks of age and the second 4-6 weeks later. The second dose is essential if lambs are to acquire the required level of protective immunity. 
Producers who were in the PZ from the outset and who have administered their bluetongue vaccine, should now be preparing to administer  their Ovivac-P Plus.  Ensuring stock is as well protected as possible is essential and Intervet’s vets believe that maximising lamb immunity against a range of potentially serious diseases before the main bluetongue risk period (high summer) will enhance their survival chances should they be subjected to a bluetongue virus challenge.  The majority of the care for bluetongue-infected livestock in mainland Europe last year involved the use of antibiotics to combat secondary infections, rather than the virus itself for which there is no cure.  The better the immunity a lamb has against a range of other bacteria is likely to improve its chances  of surviving a bluetongue challenge.
Log onto www.bluetongue-info.co.uk  for more information about the PZ areas and your unit’s vaccination situation.