MSD Animal Health receives UK approval for Schmallenberg vaccine

MSD Animal Health has announced that its new vaccine product Bovilis SBV has been granted a provisional marketing authorisation by the UK's Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).

The VMD has fast-tracked the availability of Bovilis SBV to the market based on its status as the first effective vaccine to specifically targeting the Schmallenberg virus (SBV) in cattle and sheep.

SBV emerged in late 2011 and causes fever, diarrhoea and reduced milk yield among adult animals, as well as congenital malformation in newborn calves and lambs.

As of March 31st 2013, 1,753 cases of SBV have been confirmed throughout the UK, with the disease having been detected in every county in England and Wales, and MSD Animal Health will now be striving to expedite stocks to British farms.

Andras Bolcskei, UK manager for MSD Animal Health, said: "There was a tremendous urgency for a SBV vaccine in the UK, especially given the marked increase in confirmed cases over the past year and the increasing importance to help control this devastating disease."

The approval of the drug has been welcomed by the British Veterinary Association, which stated that the product's launch will help to assuage some of the worries the disease has caused.