A new Leptospirosis vaccine has been sourced and licensed by Glanbia Ireland, in conjunction with Co-op Animal Health, to meet the needs of herd-owners following the poor availability of other Lepto vaccines this spring.

Glanbia vet, Shane McElroy, has verified that the ‘BioBos L’ product “meets the required quality, efficacy and safety standards”.

It will deliver the same requirements for animal protection as the other vaccines, according to Glanbia.

This vaccine has been licensed and used in other EU countries for many years, but has never been used in Ireland, mainly due to the availability of other Lepto vaccines.

Bioveta, the manufacturer of the BioBos L product, is a pharmaceutical company based in the Czech Republic and contract manufactures vaccines and other medicines for other well-known pharmaceutical companies, according to Glanbia.

The timing of Lepto vaccination is different this year due to availability of the vaccine.

McElroy explained that normally you would not choose to vaccinate the herd during breeding. He said the risks of this are minimal, and are by far outweighed by the benefit of having pregnancies protected throughout the summer from this highly prevalent disease.

In addition, human health will unnecessarily be put at risk where disease protection by vaccination is allowed to lapse.

Delaying Lepto vaccination until later in the year will leave more pregnancies at risk of Leptospirosis infection – which will lead to early embryo loss or abortions during the summer, following Lepto infection which is picked up at grazing, according to the group.

Skipping Lepto vaccination altogether in 2019 will mean that animals are not protected for the next 12 months and then two shots will be required next year.

Once the immunity from last year’s vaccine has worn off, farmers and farm staff will be at risk of contracting the disease from infected cow’s urine, especially in the milking parlour.

Glanbia has stressed that the BioBos L product can be used in the same way, and will provide the same disease protection as the other two vaccines on the market.

This can be given to animals during the breeding season so that pregnancies are protected and animal/human health is also safeguarded for the rest of the season.

As with the other Lepto vaccines, heifers will need two doses, four weeks apart for their primary course, which should be carried out as soon as possible to protect their pregnancies.

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