Intervet International bv, part of Schering-Plough Corporation, has developed a vaccine against Bluetongue serotype 8, for sheep and cattle. The vaccine has been taken into production now. Intervet is aiming to deliver the first quantities of vaccine in May.

Paul van Aarle, Director Institutional Sales of Intervet said: “We are currently optimizing the production process and we expect to have more insight in the overall production capacities by March.”

The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), already placed an order with Intervet to supply 22.5 million doses of Bluetongue vaccine. Intervet’s Bluetongue vaccine recently gained a temporary license in France. Based on this license, other member states of the European Union can allow usage of the vaccine to control the disease.

Intervet has been actively working on a vaccine against this virus since its emergence in Northern Europe in 2006 to meet the urgent need as quickly as possible.

The vaccine has been developed for sheep and for cattle. While sheep need to be vaccinated only once, cattle will need two vaccinations. The Bluetongue control strategy and vaccine purchase and supply are defined by the national authorities.