The event, called ‘Embracing Change? It’s Time to Vaccinate!’ is building on the momentum of the white paper Time to Vaccinate – Looking Beyond Antibiotics which focuses on how the animal health industry can work together to overcome antimicrobial resistance. Now MSD Animal Health is taking the message to farmers at the Oxford Faming Conference and encouraging them to embrace change.

Dr Paul Williams, technical manager for MSD Animal Health said, “The issue of antimicrobial resistance spans all industries, sectors and services. Disease prevention, not treatment, is part of the solution and it requires a change of mindset. It also can’t be achieved in isolation, we need to work together. Defra has highlighted tackling antibiotic resistance as one of their priorities and we welcome this support, but farmers, vets and the wider industry also need to be involved.

“Vaccination has an important part to play in disease prevention and thereby reducing the need for antibiotics – and we’ve released our white paper Time to Vaccinate – Looking Beyond Antibiotics to provide concrete examples on the current situation in the livestock sectors. The paper shows vaccination rates in the cattle, sheep and pig sectors remain low. We need to understand why this is, and how we can overcome barriers to vaccination.”

MSD Animal Health’s research into farmer attitudes about vaccination showed 67% of UK farmers would not vaccinate against a disease unless they’ve had an outbreak.

“We’re not surprised by this,” comments Dr Williams, “but once there has been an outbreak, the damage has already been done. Equally, disease cost is unpredictable – it could spread, impact production and even cause death. Vaccination costs are predictable and can be planned ahead.”

Vaccination is not the only solution to disease prevention MSD Animal Health is highlighting. “Biosecurity, good hygiene practice and pro-active farm management and husbandry are also all part of the solution,” continues Dr Williams. “By focusing on improving animal health we can reduce the need for antibiotics, and animal welfare standards will also improve. It’s a win-win situation.”

Copies of the white paper are available at http://www.msd-animal-health.co.uk/

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About MSD Animal Health
For more than a century, MSD, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases. MSD Animal Health, known as Merck Animal Health in the United States and Canada, is the global animal health business unit of MSD. Through its commitment to the Science of Healthier Animals™, MSD Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest range of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services. MSD Animal Health is dedicated to preserving and improving the health, well-being and performance of animals. It invests extensively in dynamic and comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global supply chain. MSD Animal Health is present in more than 50 countries, while its products are available in some 150 markets.

‘Disease? Not On My Farm!’ is an initiative launched by MSD Animal Health to engage farmers in the importance of preventative herd health and proactive disease management on-farm, to overcome the perception that vaccination equates to a diseased herd.
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