Citing Special Need, USDA Issues Conditional License for Poultry Industry’s First Vaccine for Necrotic Enteritis

Schering-Plough Animal Health Now Field Testing Product in US

Schering-Plough Animal Health Corporation has obtained a conditional license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to begin field testing the first vaccine for helping in controlling mortality due to helping in controlling mortality due to necrotic enteritis in poultry. 

Because the vaccine has proved to be safe and fills a special need, USDA agreed to issue a conditional license after Schering-Plough Animal Health demonstrated a “reasonable expectation of efficacy” for the necrotic enteritis toxoid.
 
Schering-Plough Animal Health is now conducting large-scale efficacy trials with the toxoid with major U.S. poultry companies while pursuing a full USDA license. It is considered a toxoid because the vaccine is made with the toxin developed by the target pathogen, not the bacterium itself.

“The necrotic enteritis vaccine is yet another example of our commitment to bring innovative, science-based products to the poultry industry to complement our line of coccidiosis vaccines,” says Stephen P. Collins, Vice President, Global Poultry for Schering-Plough Animal Health. “We’re grateful to the U.S. poultry companies who are working with us to develop this product for commercial use.”
 
The causative agent of necrotic enteritis, Clostridium perfringens, is a ubiquitous anaerobic bacterium found in soil, dust, feces, feed and poultry litter. C. perfringens has been described as “an opportunistic bacterium” that takes advantage of alterations in the normal bacterial flora of the intestine.  It is hoped that the vaccine will provide a drug-free tool for managing this disease.

For more information on the new vaccine, producers should contact their local Schering-Plough Animal Health representative.

Schering-Plough Animal Health Corporation is the worldwide animal health business of Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) of Kenilworth, N.J. Schering-Plough is a global science-based health care company with leading prescription, consumer and animal health products.  Through internal research and collaborations with partners, Schering-Plough discovers, develops, manufactures and markets advanced drug therapies to meet important medical needs.  Schering-Plough's vision is to earn the trust of the physicians, patients and customers served by its more than 30,000 people around the world.