MSD Animal Health (Merck Animal Health) has gained approval from Singapore to begin marketing AQUAVAC® IridoV.
This new oil-adjuvanted vaccine is used to reduce mortality due to iridovirus disease (genus Megalocytivirus) in marine fish, tilapia and other susceptible fish.
The vaccine is administered intraperitonealy as a single-injection dose to fish weighing no less than 5g. According to the company, onset of immunity to iridovirus has been demonstrated 10 days after vaccination at a water temperature of 27°C. Studies have shown the vaccine’s duration of immunity to be at least 15 weeks after a single dose.
Iridovirus disease is an infectious disease that generally strikes fish in the nursery but may continue well into the grow-out stage.
“If left uncontrolled, iridovirus has been known to cause up to 90% mortality in fingerlings within a month or so after stocking. In certain situations the disease can also be chronic without an obvious mortality peak,” said Neil Wendover, technical director for warmwater aquatic species at MSD Animal Health.
“There is no treatment for iridovirus, so vaccination - next to good husbandry - is the only option for managing this costly disease,” Mr Wendover added.
According to Siow Foong Chang, site manager for MSD Animal Health’s dedicated aquaculture research facility in Singapore, AQUAVAC IridoV is the second aquaculture vaccine licensed in an Asia-Pacific country this year by MSD Animal Health. In Indonesia, the company recently launched AQUAVAC Strep Sa, an inactivated vaccine that aids in the protection against Streptococcus agalactiae infections in tilapia and other susceptible fish.
