Brink of a new era
Automated delivery systems likely to become standard for production units of all sizes
OVER the last year and a bit, I’ve had the honour of being president of the Fish Veterinary Society.Among other things, that has led to me being involved, on behalf of the salmonid aquaculture sector, in discussions on antibiotic resistance in livestock, and its relationship to the use and availability of antibiotics in human medicine.
My involvement has been no hardship at all, as we have a good story to tell.The introduction of effective vaccines against the major bacterial diseases, particularly furunculosis, way back in the 1990s has meant that our antibiotic usage has remained minimal.
We already easily meet the goals being set for the reduction in antibiotic usage in other farmed species.
This, alongside the fact that the bacteria which infect salmon are quite different from those which affect humans, means that we can rightly claim to be well ahead with the One Health agenda, which aims to minimise the impact of disease in human and animal populations.
However, there is no room for complacency. Emerging bacterial diseases in the freshwater phase could well mean us reaching for those antibiotics which are critically impor-
without its problems. Intra-peritoneal oil-adjuvanted vaccines do cause side quality or the (genuine) assurance that there is no risk to human health from
against sea lice has yet to appear, we have been vaccinating against viruses prevention of diseases for which there is no treatment, they have to date not produced the level of protection we’ve come to expect of the bacterial vaccines.
vaccines and vaccination.The interest in this sector is evidenced by recent ongoing competition for market share between MSD, Elanco and Zoetis.
New players are also entering the frame – I’m aware of Benchmark Animal Health and Hipra in that context and I’m sure there are others.
There has also been a considerable increase in the production of autogenous vaccines by the likes of Ridgeway in the UK andVaxxinova in Norway, representing the ‘rapid response’ end of the market.All of this is good news
In terms of vaccine technology, exciting developments are on-going.As I Elanco’s pancreas disease vaccine appears to represent a true innovation, with intra-muscular vaccination introducing a whole new aspect to the process.
Other companies are working on RNA vaccines and it would appear to be only a matter of time before these new style vaccines become the norm.
Vaccine delivery will have to change to adapt – initially, at least, companies such as Aqualife will have to develop methods to inject two vaccines, into dif hard behind the scenes to ensure this can be done, so the challenge is largely already addressed.
vaccination by teams of skilled workers remains very important – it still forms the major part of the work for Aqualife.
However, machine vaccination continues to develop and fully automated vaccination became a reality with the introduction of Skala Maskon’s ground-breaking machine.
I think, though, that we’re on the brink of a whole new era of automated
As the sector moves rapidly forward, we have to ensure it does so in a welfare friendly manner”
vaccination, as robotic technology becomes established in our industry.This has been the central focus of R&D at Aqualife and I know that others are equally interested.
It seems inevitable that automated vaccine delivery systems will become standard for production units of all sizes within a very short time.
In all of these developments, we do have to remember what we’re trying nation process, or the vaccines themselves, to have a negative impact. That is
The importance of quality control in the development of vaccines and vaccination technology, and in the management of the vaccination process, cannot be over emphasised.
As the sector moves rapidly forward, we have to ensure it does so in a harm’!