Chickens.

For the active immunisation of chickens to reduce infection and clinical signs of coccidiosis caused by E. acervulina, E. maxima, E. mitis and E. tenella.

Onset of immunity: 21 days post vaccination.

Duration of immunity: not demonstrated.

None.

The vaccine contains live coccidian oocysts and is dependent upon replication of the vaccinal strains within the chickens for building up of immunity.

It is common to find oocysts in the gastro-intestinal tract of vaccinated birds from 1-3 weeks or more after vaccination. These oocysts are most likely to be vaccinal oocysts which recycle in the birds via the litter. Recycling of oocysts is necessary for the development of immunity and for continued protection.

Since the protection against coccidial infection following vaccination is enhanced by natural challenge, access to any therapeutic agents having anti-coccidial activity at any time following vaccination can adversely affect the development of immunity. This is important throughout the life of the chicken.

Vaccinate healthy birds only.

Vaccinate only chickens floor-reared on litter.

To reduce the chance of coccidial challenge before the onset of immunity, litter should be removed and chicken housing should be thoroughly cleaned between rearing cycles.

When spraying the vaccine onto chicks or onto feed, well-fitting masks and eye protection should be worn by the operator.

Wash and disinfect hands and equipment after use.

None known.

The safety of the veterinary medicinal product has not been established in laying birds. Do not use in birds in lay and within 4 weeks before the onset of the laying period.

Do not administer any anticoccidial agents, including sulphonamides before or after vaccination, as doing so will have a negative impact on immunity which is dependent on the recycling of oocysts in the environment.

No information is available on the safety and efficacy of this vaccine when used with any other veterinary medicinal product. A decision to use this vaccine before or after any other veterinary medicinal product therefore needs to be made on a case by case basis.

Spray on birds and spray on feed: administer one dose of vaccine to each chicken from 1 day of age.

Drinking water: administer one dose of vaccine to each chicken from 3 days of age.

Once the 30 ml vial containing either 1000 or 5000 doses is opened, the entire contents must be used.

Sufficient starter feed for the chicks’ first 12-24 hours should be laid out on paper or plastic along the floor of the poultry house.

Shake the vaccine vial vigorously for 30 seconds before use to re-suspend the oocysts. Dilute the vaccine in water at the rate of approximately 1000 doses in 1 litre of water (5000 doses in 5 litres) To ensure that all oocysts are removed from the vial, rinse it out 2-3 times with water. Spray the oocyst suspension evenly over the surface of the feed using a coarse spray. Ensure a controlled even coverage of the total surface area of the feed available to the chickens. Agitate the applicator reservoir regularly throughout spraying to avoid settling-out of oocysts. Ensure that all available feed is treated and that the total number of doses dispensed matches the number of birds in the house.

Once the vaccine has been diluted for use it should be sprayed immediately onto feed and birds should be placed with access to the feed immediately.

When the treated allocation of feed has been consumed, routine feeding may continue.

For the administration of the vaccine drinkers must be used.

Provide an adequate number of drinkers or drinking space so that all chicks have access to the vaccine

suspension and thus can receive the correct dose.

Place the drinkers evenly in the area where chicks are housed.

Water should be withheld for 2 - 4 hours before vaccination.

Preparation of the xanthan gum suspension:

Commercially available xanthan gum can be used.

For 1000 doses put 3 litres of clean drinking water at room temperature in a suitable container and dissolve 5g xanthan gum. For 5000 doses put 15 litres of clean drinking water at room temperature in a suitable container and dissolve 25g xanthan gum.

Prepare the vaccine suspension as follows:

To re-suspend the oocysts, shake the vaccine vial vigorously. Open the vial and pour the whole contents into clean drinking water at room temperature: 2 litres for 1000 doses and 10 litres for 5000 doses. To ensure that all oocysts are removed from the vial, rinse it out 2-3 times with water. Shake the obtained 2 litres (1000 doses) or 10 litres (5000 doses) of vaccine suspensions and transfer gradually into the prepared xanthan gum suspension, mixing thoroughly to ensure a homogeneous suspension.

Mixing the xanthan gum suspension together with the vaccine suspension will result in a final quantity of 5 litres (for 1000 doses) or 25 litres (for 5000 doses) vaccine-xanthan gum suspension. Pour the vaccine-xanthan gum suspension into the drinking equipment.

For each 100 birds a dose volume of about 24 ml of coarse spray suspension has to be prepared.

For spraying on chickens use Brilliant Blue (E133) coloring agent.

Preparation of the coloured diluent:

For 1000 doses put 240 ml of water in a suitable container and add Brilliant Blue (E133) colorant at a concentration of 0.01% w/v.

For 5000 doses put 1200 ml of water in a suitable container and add Brilliant Blue (E133) colorant at a concentration of 0.01% w/v.

Preparation and administration of the vaccine suspension:

Shake the 1000- or 5000- doses vial vigorously to re-suspend the oocysts.

Add the entire content of the vial to the diluent and mix thoroughly. Rinse the vial 3 times with diluent to ensure that all oocysts are removed. Fill the vaccine reservoir of the spraying device with the full volume prepared. Continuously maintain homogeneity of the vaccine suspension. The pressure of the spraying device should be at 3 bars. The spraying device must provide a droplet size of ≥100 µm.

To improve the uniformity of the vaccination maintain the chicks inside the chick box for at least 1 hour in order to let them ingest all the vaccine droplets. Make sure that there is enough light so that the chickens are awake and preen themselves and each other.

No side effects have been observed following administration of a 10 times overdose.

Zero days.