A new US vaccine treatment against the highly damaging dairy and beef disease, Mycoplasma Bovis (M. Bovis), is being put through a series of UK farm trials under the supervision of north-east vet Graeme Fowlie.
Claimed to have delivered net savings of £1,975 per 100 cattle when used in relation to livestock arthritis in the US, the effectiveness of the product, called Myco-B, is being tested on four UK dairy farms under a temporary import licence.
The trials have been set up by Mr Fowlie, director of Meadows Vets in Aberdeenshire, using a special product importation obtained under veterinary prescription, via Dutch pharmaceutical company, Kernfarm.
The key target for the new vaccine is M. Bovis, which is the number one cause of pneumonia in calves.
According to Mr Fowlie, M. Bovis is also associated with other symptoms, including mastitis, arthritis, immunosuppression and otitis.
“I’m delighted to be working with Kernfarm to introduce what might be the missing link to pneumonia prevention,” said Mr Fowlie.
