Pashudhan Praharee ,15th Feb 2022
An Exclusive Interview regarding Recombinant Poultry vaccine with the Director of Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim India
Boehringer Ingelheim is a global leader in the animal health industry. Its work is guided by a passionate belief in a future in which no animal suffers from a preventable disease. The company discovers, develops, and manufactures vaccines, parasiticides and therapeutics, complemented by diagnostics & monitoring platforms. With its innovative solutions, Boehringer Ingelheim supports farmers, veterinarians as well as pet owners who deeply care for their animals.
For more information about Boehringer Ingelheim India :https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.in/
Pashudhan Praharee was in conversation with Mr. Sunit Kishore, Director – Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim India, who is responsible for managing Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim India and driving purposeful growth of Livestock sector with focus on Poultry Biosecurity issues. The interview was focus on the recently launched innovative recombinant poultry vaccine VAXXITEK® HVT+IBD, a single shot vaccine, ensuring life-long protection against two major immunosuppressive diseases – IBD (Infectious Bursal Disease) and Marek’s Disease for all types of production chicken namely broiler, layer and breeder.
Excerpts from the conversation
- Tell us about Boehringer Ingelheim’s journey in India?
A family-owned company founded in 1885, Boehringer Ingelheim has steadily grown to become one of the world’s most prominent players in the pharmaceutical industry, with innovative solutions for both animal and human health. We have over 50,000 employees worldwide creating value through innovation every day for three business units: Animal Health, Biopharmaceuticals, and Human Pharmaceuticals.
Boehringer Ingelheim entered India in 2003, and since then has ranked among the top 10 fastest growing multinational pharmaceutical companies in the country. With both Human Pharma and Animal Health divisions represented in India, Boehringer Ingelheim is committed to the ‘One Health’ proposition of holistic and sustainable care models. Guided by a belief in a future where no animal suffers from a preventable disease, our Animal Health division has steadfastly focused on developing solutions to a variety of diseases. Over 10,000 people in 150 countries develop and manufacture innovative vaccines, parasiticides and therapeutics, including internal and external anti-parasitic solutions, anti-viral vaccinations, and kidney disease medicines, to provide advanced and preventive healthcare for animals. Our commercial animal and pet care medications Vaxxitek, NexGard, Heartgard and Frontline are recognized as market leaders globally.
- What are the most common diseases found in animals these days? How can they be managed?
In India, foot and mouth disease, ringworm and rabies are among the most commonly occurring diseases among animals. Many animals across the country also suffer from tetanus, anthrax and rhinotracheitis.
Poultry animals have often been affected by Marek’s disease, a highly contagious viral disease characterized by vision impairment, weight loss, gradual paralysis. They also suffer from and Infectious bursal disease (IBD), another viral disease characterized by a loss of appetite, diarrhea and sudden mortality. Avian Infectious Bronchitis (IB) is another viral respiratory disease which leads to dyspnea, tracheal rales and ultimately a marked reduction in egg quality. Finally, Newcastle Disease is a highly contagious disease leading to severe paralysis, coughing and diarrhea among young poultry birds. All these afflictions are rampant among Indian poultry animals and frequently cause a large number of deaths and thus, tremendous economic damage to farmers.
The solution to these conditions lies in timely and quality diagnosis and treatment. Hygiene is a common thread linking these problems: unhygienic and unsanitary conditions for animals often speed up the transmission of the viruses and lead to large-scale outbreaks. Maintaining clean, safe and well-ventilated living spaces for animals should be the first step towards dealing with these diseases. Effective inoculation, which helps build strong immunity against viral conditions and marked decrease in mortality rates, should be another key step for anybody willing to ensure healthy poultry.
- What is the importance of vaccination for poultry animals?
The importance of vaccination cannot be emphasized enough. The value of poultry animals is immense: steady economic growth and increase in per-capita food consumption has led to an ever-growing demand for protein in diets. This presents an unprecedented economic opportunity to farmers and underscores the importance of proper healthcare measures for poultry animals.
Vaccination is one of the simplest ways to build immunity against various diseases. Vaccines essentially aim to create an immune response against a disease without causing the disease in an organism. Creating early exposure to disease-causing organisms helps the animal’s immune system to recall the infectious agent against which the animal is vaccinated.
A well-built immune response can largely stop the transmission of multiple contagious zoonotic diseases from animal to animal and from animal to man. For poultry animals, vector vaccines, which use non-pathogenic agents as vectors to carry protective genes from the pathogen and mimic a natural infection, have proven to be beneficial. They seldom cause adverse reactions, frequently overcome antibody resistance, and can be adjusted to meet evolving disease challenges.
Vaccines are cost-effective, safe and work for long periods of time. From an economic perspective, they provide superior return on investment as they minimize the chances of a disease emerging and help boost animal production manifold.
- What offerings does BI have for poultry?
Boehringer Ingelheim India has a diverse range of offerings for poultry. Our VAXXITEK® HVT+IBD is a leading poultry vaccine aimed at addressing two key challenges that affect the USD 120 Million Indian poultry industry. The single dose vaccine ensures life-long protection against both IBD (infectious bursal disease) and Marek’s disease – both of which are known to cause significant losses to poultry businesses – for a wide variety of poultry – broiler, layer, and breeder. Apart from India, VAXXITEK® is available in 100 countries worldwide and is the largest selling poultry vaccine globally in terms of revenue.
Globally, Boehringer Ingelheim offers vaccination solutions to combat Marek’s Disease, Infectious Bursal Disease, Infectious Coryza, Newcastle Disease, Infectious Bronchitis, Salmonellosis and Fowl Pox. Vaccination services are well supported by a strong veterinary expertise and Veterinary Technology and Services (VTS) Departments.
- Is there a connection between the health of animals and humans? If yes, how?
The health and well-being of animals, humans and the environment are deeply interlinked. Throughout history, animals and humans have often shared meaningful and emotional bonds. Recent environmental changes and technological advances have further enhanced the proximity of humans and animals.
The last few years have been a prime example of how ensuring optimal animal health is important for human health, as indicated by the increase in zoonotic diseases – diseases that can be transmitted from animals to human beings. Therefore, ensuring the health and wellbeing of animals keeps humans safer and healthier too. The continuation of our current crisis has made it clear that an ‘ecosystems’ view of health – one that avoids restricting health needs to silos, integrates aspects of our shared ecosystem, and increases access to holistic and quality care – is the need of the hour.
