Recent scare shows the need for safe vaccine against red mites

The use of unlicensed products on the continent to control red mites in poultry - seen during the fipronil scare which saw millions of eggs removed from Europe’s food chain earlier in the year – highlights the need for an effective and safe vaccine to control these parasites.

With the biting mites estimated to cost the egg sector more than £100 million in treatment costs and lost production across Europe the emergence of mites resistant to widely used control methods – together with a reduction in the number of products available - has been a major concern for producers.

Reporting on progress in developing vaccines to control the parasite, Doctor Al Nisbet of the Moredun Research Institute, said that there were a number of projects looking at such developments, including work at his own institute.

However, with the testing of new vaccines potentially requiring the use of hundreds of hens, a new £500,000 grant from the National Centre for Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research – an organisation devoted to reducing the use of animals in research and development - could see a much more efficient assessment system developed.