The year 2009 marked the first time that U.S. broiler operations used more than 1 billion doses of coccidiosis vaccine within a year, according to Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health.
Through November, nearly twice as many broilers were vaccinated with Coccivac-B compared with the previous year in the same period, making it the most widely used coccidiosis vaccine in the United States.
Rick Phillips, veterinarian and director of the company’s U.S. poultry business, said the surge in coccidiosis vaccine usage reflects the poultry industry’s response to growing consumer demand for meat raised with fewer or no in-feed medications. He said more producers are eliminating the use of in-feed anticoccidials and exclusively using vaccine for coccidiosis control.
The company also attributed the boost in sales to the development of the SprayCox II spray vaccination unit for administering the vaccine to day-old chicks.
