PCV2 vaccine scoops product award

CircoFLEX vaccine for pig wasting disease PCV2 has been awarded the best new product award at this year’s British Pig and Poultry Fair.

Judge Phil Stephenson, who farms at Melbourne, York, praised the single-shot vaccine from Boehringer Ingelheim for the huge benefits it had bought to the pig industry.

The vaccine entered the market after the Pig and Poultry Fair two years ago and has since been hugely successful at reducing pig mortality and improving growth rates, said Boehringer’s David Strachan.

“In 2009 CircoFLEX was used on five million pigs in Great Britain which speaks volumes about the need for the product in the market.

“PCV disease is so widespread and its effects are so widespread that the majority of farmers have used the product, and will continue to do so – the return on investment is huge.”

The vaccine is licensed on pigs from two weeks of age, with most farmers injecting at an around weaning.

“A single dose will protect the pig throughout its life, with evidence suggesting efficacy even in pigs slaughtered at nine months of age,” he said.

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