• The BTv8 vaccine Bovilis™
  is a 'killed' vaccine, so it cannot transmit the disease.
• It has been thoroughly tested in vaccinated livestock and challenged successfully.
• It has been granted a license for use

When any medicine, drug or vaccine is licensed it's efficacy in the field is always monitored and it is the manufacturer's responsibility to do this through what is known as, 'Pharmacovigilance'.
This ruling applies to all licensed medicines and vaccines for both human and animal treatments. 

The appropriate authority for veterinary products is the Veterinary Medicines Directorate - Click here.
This applies even if it is a human reaction to a veterinary product and they are very strict and thoroughly investigate any problems without delay.

If a death or symptoms following the administration of a medicine or vaccination is experienced, in the first instance, this should be reported to your vet who will then report it to the VMD who in turn will contact the manufacturers and together they will investigate further and are pleased to do so.
For information that explains what to do and how - Click here!

In every case if the VMD are not told about a problem, they cannot investigate it!
So in this instance, if following the BTv8 vaccination of your livestock, you note any Bluetongue symptoms or unusual deaths, please report it to your vet or directly to Intervet, which does have a time advantage as if the report goes via the VMD then it can take a couple of weeks for Intervet to learn of it and then it may be too late for investigation! Contact Intervet Veterinary Support Group: Tel: 01908 685685

We also have to remember that BT is still a dangerous and reportable disease. So, if anyone is suspicious of symptoms such as lameness, abortions or deaths, they should report it to their vet and DEFRA through their local Animal Health office - Click here!

I have published this information following information received from DEFRA-Animal Health and Intervet.
We all say 'Don't hesitate - Vaccinate!' 

Although they are not responsible for monitoring the vaccine in the field, the Animal Health office at Bury in Suffolk would like to hear from any farmers in their areas that experience any problems in their livestock following BTv8 vaccination. The areas include: Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. To contact them - Click here!

Vaccination is the best way to protect your livestock from this dreadful disease and it is probably very unlikely that any problems that may occur will be attributed to the Bovilis™ vaccine and more likely that they will probably be due to other infections or a stress related cause. At the time of writing, over two and half million doses of the vaccine have been given to livestock in the UK with very few problems reported and more are receiving the vaccine daily.

It is always worth remembering that few flocks and herds have animals that are like pets and used to being handled. Therefore, when they are gathered and handled for any reason, they do find it stressful and stress can cause problems in us all and especially in pregnant females, who really do need to be handled with care!

Although vaccinating to prevent Bluetongue is an urgent priority, please try to stay quiet and calm in yourself, especially when gathering your stock and while handling them to administer the vaccine. It will certainly make the job so much easier and less stressful for you and of course, for your livestock too!

Jane Barribal - 14th May 2008

Last updated - June 11, 2008