Animal vaccination Part 1: development, production and use of vaccines 
Preface - Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 2007, 26 (1), 11-12 (pdf)

Vaccination, when available, is undoubtedly the most cost-effective means of preventing and controlling, and even eradicating, infectious diseases. In recent years vaccination has also been used for other purposes in animal health, production and welfare, e.g. immunocastration. In fact, the impact of vaccination goes far beyond the mere control of infectious diseases.

Acting through natural mechanisms, vaccination of animals serves many different purposes, such as controlling animal infections and infestations, thus improving animal health and animal welfare; controlling anthropozoonoses and food poisoning, thereby protecting public health; solving problems associated with antibiotic and anthelmintic resistance; helping to leave food-producing animals free of chemical residues; protecting the environment and biodiversity; and ensuring animal farming sustainability, thereby helping to alleviate poverty.

Vaccination will help to reach many of the objectives of the United Nations ‘Millenium Development Goals Report - 2005’, especially in the light of the foreseen livestock revolution.

Public perception and disapproval of some veterinary prophylactic measures, such as mass slaughtering of livestock to control epizootic diseases, serve to further promote the use of vaccination as an alternative disease control strategy, even if slaughtering of infected animals will still be necessary in many circumstances. This will be made easier, thanks to recent progress in veterinary vaccinology, such as the availability of marker (DIVA [differentiation of infected from vaccinated animals]) vaccines.

Recent progress in animal genomics and the availability of the entire genome sequences of several domestic species such as cattle and chickens, as well as recent progress in veterinary immunology will help to develop more effective and safer vaccines.

Unfortunately, there are several barriers to the development of new vaccines: economic barriers such as the lack of investment incentives, especially for vaccines against diseases that only occur in developing countries; scientific obstacles, for instance, the antigenic variability of some pathogens and the ability of parasites to circumvent immune response; regulatory hurdles due the stringent and non-harmonised regulations in place for vaccine registration; deliberate withholding by some countries of strains of pathogenic agents; and, finally, public perception of the consumption of food products derived from vaccinated animals and of technologies such as genetic engineering.

Vaccination and vaccines have always been a major topic for the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) since elimination or control of animal diseases, particularly zoonoses, is a global public good. This is why profitability should not be a priority when vaccination policies are established. The OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (Terrestrial Code) and the Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals (Terrestrial Manual) respectively provide recommendations on how to administer and how to manufacture veterinary vaccines. Veterinary Services should be encouraged to regularly consult these publications in order to improve animal health throughout the world.

Recently, the OIE was involved in the production of a textbook published by Elsevier (Veterinary Vaccinology), and organised an international conference on the ‘Control of Infectious Animal Diseases by Vaccination’ in Buenos Aires in April 2004, the proceedings of which were published by the International Association of Biological Standardisation (IABS). It seemed timely, therefore, to review the different aspects of vaccination and vaccines in animal health to provide OIE Delegates with updated information to scientifically support decision making. To this end, these two issues of the OIE Scientific and Technical Review are designed to provide useful generic information rather than give detailed technical descriptions of specific diseases or vaccines.

I am certain that this Review will help all those involved in animal health, animal welfare and public health.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the authors who contributed to these two issues of the Review which is on a subject of great importance for the OIE and all its Member Countries.

I would especially like to thank Professor Paul-Pierre Pastoret, Dr Michel Lombard and Dr Alejandro Schudel for accepting our invitation to coordinate these issues of the Review. I am very grateful for the way in which they undertook this task and for their contribution to the development of this publication.

Bernard Vallat
Director General

Last updated - June 11, 2008