’Why I can’t advise farmers vaccinate against bf

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   THIS IS FROM A NEWSPAPER IN NIGERIA                  �Why I can�t advise farmers to vaccinate against bird flu�

BY SADE OGUNTOLA

Successful poultry business depends on

good feeding and adequate vaccination.Successful rearing of poultry birds depends on proper feeding and good health care. Part of ensuring good health care entails knowing what vaccines and vaccination programme to follow.

Most farmers are deficient however in this. They don�t know about vaccines and how they are to be used. They neither ask veterinarians but rely strictly on what marketers of most of these vaccines and other veterinary drugs tell them, said Dr. A.A Owoade, a veterinary doctor with the Faculty of Veterinary, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

�Over 80 per cent of poultry farmers do not have veterinary doctors or consultants attached to their farms, but rather rely on low cadre animal health personnel�s who don�t have in-depth information on vaccines, vaccination and animal drugs as well as other poultry health imputs�.

Though there are different types of poultry diseases and vaccines that can be used to prevent them, this does not mean all the diseases must be vaccinated against. �Consider the common diseases in that environment and only vaccinate against only these,� he said.

�For example, in the South Western part of the country, they can protect the birds against such infections as Newcastle disease, Gumboro, Marecks, and Fowl pox. Dr. Owoade further said it is however not advisable to vaccinate against bird flu. �The law does not allow bird flu vaccine. Even though some farms have started to use it as a panicking preventive measure, this does not mean bird flu is common�, he said.

Speaking further, he stated that: �We don�t know if bird flu is common or rampant.� �We will have to study the situation for two to four years before we can say it is common. So far the prevalence of bird flu from a survey we did found it to be less than three per cent.�

The veterinarian said �I will not advise any person to administer bird flu vaccine until it can be ascertained that the virus is common.� Even on coccidiosis, vaccination is only essential in broilers or if the farm had experienced frequent outbreaks of the disease, adding that whatever vaccine that is to be used must be ensured to be the appropriate type and also correctly administered.

He said that �for a vaccine that can be administered either through the bird�s drinking water, as an injection or dropped into the bird�s eye,� the drinking water option is not the best.This may not afford all the birds to take equal amounts of the vaccine. Those very thirsty will end up taking more than the others.

Implications of this is great. It has economic disadvantages. because the possibility of having some of these birds left unprotected is high. However, it is better to use a technique such as the injection route that will allow the bird to get the appropriate amount.

Whetherit is the drinking water, injection or eye route, ensuring the vaccine is of good quality is also important to ensure protection. He said this is the basis of veterinarian�s advising farmers to have any vaccine they buy tested to confirm its potency.

Usually vaccines can lose their potency just as vaccine failures also can occur due to various reasons, including when there is a break in the cold chain during storage, its over-dilution, inaccessibility to vaccine served in drinking water because of overcrowding or a prolonged stay of diluted vaccine before administration.

�Most diluted vaccines, shouldn�t be kept for more than 40 to 50 minutes because the longer it is, the less the potency. So if you intend to vaccinate 10,000 birds, you shouldn�t dilute all the vaccine you need at once, but rather do it little at a time.�

Also, he said farmers make many errors in vaccination. �A wrong choice of vaccine, wrong timing or schedule of vaccination and boosting immunity with vaccine can all impact negatively.�

In other to prevent all of these, he said a farmer needs to do what he is called flock profiling - an evaluation of the immune status or antibody of the flock. �If we see the level falling below the baseline value, we can warn farmers of the likelihood f their birds developing a diseases or tell whether the birds are responding to the vaccine given. 

Much as most farmers would prefer to use drinkers to administer their vaccine, he advised that in other to ensure better vaccination, they should make sure they get enough drinkers that can then be well spaced out for all the birds to have equal access.This will also require that they get enough hands to take the drinking water to which the vaccine had been added in at the same time.

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	THIS IS FROM A NEWSPAPER IN NIGERIA �Why I can�t advise farmers to vaccinate against bird flu� BY SADE OGUNTOLA Successful poultry business depends on good feeding and adequate vaccination.Successful rearing of poultry birds depends on proper feeding and good health care. Part of ensuring good health care entails knowing what vaccines and vaccination programme to follow. Most farmers are deficient however in this. They don�t know about vaccines and how they are to be used. They neither ask veterinarians but rely strictly on what marketers of most of these vaccines and other veterinary drugs tell them, said Dr. A.A Owoade, a veterinary doctor with the Faculty of Veterinary, University of Ibadan, Ibadan. �Over 80 per cent of poultry farmers do not have veterinary doctors or consultants attached to their farms, but rather rely on low cadre animal health personnel�s who don�t have in-depth information on vaccines, vaccination and animal drugs as well as other poultry health imputs�. Though there are different types of poultry diseases and vaccines that can be used to prevent them, this does not mean all the diseases must be vaccinated against. �Consider the common diseases in that environment and only vaccinate against only these,� he said. �For example, in the South Western part of the country, they can protect the birds against such infections as Newcastle disease, Gumboro, Marecks, and Fowl pox. Dr. Owoade further said it is however not advisable to vaccinate against bird flu. �The law does not allow bird flu vaccine. Even though some farms have started to use it as a panicking preventive measure, this does not mean bird flu is common�, he said. Speaking further, he stated that: �We don�t know if bird flu is common or rampant.� �We will have to study the situation for two to four years before we can say it is common. So far the prevalence of bird flu from a survey we did found it to be less than three per cent.� The veterinarian said �I will not advise any person to administer bird flu vaccine until it can be ascertained that the virus is common.� Even on coccidiosis, vaccination is only essential in broilers or if the farm had experienced frequent outbreaks of the disease, adding that whatever vaccine that is to be used must be ensured to be the appropriate type and also correctly administered. He said that �for a vaccine that can be administered either through the bird�s drinking water, as an injection or dropped into the bird�s eye,� the drinking water option is not the best.This may not afford all the birds to take equal amounts of the vaccine. Those very thirsty will end up taking more than the others. Implications of this is great. It has economic disadvantages. because the possibility of having some of these birds left unprotected is high. However, it is better to use a technique such as the injection route that will allow the bird to get the appropriate amount. Whetherit is the drinking water, injection or eye route, ensuring the vaccine is of good quality is also important to ensure protection. He said this is the basis of veterinarian�s advising farmers to have any vaccine they buy tested to confirm its potency. Usually vaccines can lose their potency just as vaccine failures also can occur due to various reasons, including when there is a break in the cold chain during storage, its over-dilution, inaccessibility to vaccine served in drinking water because of overcrowding or a prolonged stay of diluted vaccine before administration. �Most diluted vaccines, shouldn�t be kept for more than 40 to 50 minutes because the longer it is, the less the potency. So if you intend to vaccinate 10,000 birds, you shouldn�t dilute all the vaccine you need at once, but rather do it little at a time.� Also, he said farmers make many errors in vaccination. �A wrong choice of vaccine, wrong timing or schedule of vaccination and boosting immunity with vaccine can all impact negatively.� In other to prevent all of these, he said a farmer needs to do what he is called flock profiling - an evaluation of the immune status or antibody of the flock. �If we see the level falling below the baseline value, we can warn farmers of the likelihood f their birds developing a diseases or tell whether the birds are responding to the vaccine given. Much as most farmers would prefer to use drinkers to administer their vaccine, he advised that in other to ensure better vaccination, they should make sure they get enough drinkers that can then be well spaced out for all the birds to have equal access.This will also require that they get enough hands to take the drinking water to which the vaccine had been added in at the same time.