Avian influenza (bird flu): Vaccination technical working group - 8th December 2006
Stakeholder attendees |
Defra attendees |
Devolved administrations |
Apologies |
| Christine Ashton - British Waterfowl Association | Andrew Jones | Nia Ball SEERAD | Paul Manser |
| Richard Sanders- Elm Farm Research Centre | Graeme Cooke | Ignatius McEwen DARDNI | Mark Williams - British Egg Industry Council |
| Anna Bassett - Soil Association | Rhys Jackson |
Ian Brown VLA | Neil Ritchie- SEERAD |
| Lorna Torkington | Nancy Massie SVS | ||
| Akeela Bashir | Bill Stanley - Aviagen (also representing British Poultry Council) | ||
| Dan Parker - British Veterinary Poultry Association |
Action Points from the last meeting.
- This was the second in the series of the Technical Vaccination Working Group meetings. These meetings were proving to be very useful and were helping considerably in developing the vaccination delivery plan further.
- The notes from the meetings captured as bullet points, would be published on the Defra website after each meeting.
- The group were asked to feedback on the notes from the last meeting to Akeela by Friday 15 December 2006.
- The issues listed below on the draft vaccination delivery plan were carried forward from previous meeting held on 16/11/06 for further discussions.
Viral Testing Capacity at VLA
- VLA confirmed that in normal activity they had the capacity to test 400 individual bird samples per day
- In an outbreak this capacity could be increased to 8,500 doses a week, by including weekend working. There is a potential to increase this capacity further if needed.
- The unit cost would be £13.40 per test in peace time although it might be possible to revise this downward in wartime when many tests are being carried out.
- Ramping up capacity from peace time to war time needed to be looked at to ensure it took full account of post-vaccination surveillance.
- Symbiotic commercial tests were not comparable with VLA tests.
Action 1: Chris Ashton to forward Symbiotic Website link to Akeela- Akeela to forward the link to Ian Brown.
Action 2: Graeme Cooke to provide Ian Brown modelling figures on possible post-vaccination surveillance before next meeting.
Action 3: Ian Brown to report back on ramping up capacity during outbreaks at next meeting.
Use of Sentinels
- It was agreed that sentinels were a useful and necessary tool, and although they were a difficult policy to enforce they are the responsible thing to have
- Sentinels should be recommended in the vaccination plan
- It was difficult to establish who would own sentinels. Chickens would be ideal sentinels, as more pro-active testing needed to be carried out on waterfowl before they could be used as sentinels
- DIVA strategy was a problem to do on a large scale
Action: Graeme Cooke to include the DIVA issue in the plan
Identification including ringing
- Commercial and large flocks would not need to be ringed due to complexity and the fact that the whole flock could be registered as vaccinated. However, it was felt that there was a need to ring smaller flocks for identification purposes, and because they could complicate the epidemiological picture
- Clear guidelines needed to be developed for farmers to separate vaccinated birds in small holdings from those in larger ones
- There was an issue on the types of rings to be used and the cost involved with ringing - more research was needed on various types of rings.
- Plastic leg ties (close ringing, on Defra website) was thought to be cheaper way of ringing
- In terms of including ringing in the vaccination plan it was agreed that advice would be sought from the Experts Group
Action: Graeme to seek advice from Matt Hartley on ring types and any further information available within Defra.
Maintenance of data on vaccinated flocks
- Vaccinated flocks would need to be registered on a database. This process should be made as simple as possible. A paper
(15 KB) was presented with initial thoughts of what was to be required from any vaccination database; this was agreed. - The National Poultry Disease Control System (NPDCS) was already in place at local level which may be easier to use than the Poultry Register (which updates it). It was important for it to be maintained and data entered in to it regularly.
Action: The group to take away the paper and come back with feedback /comments at next meeting. Further discussions needed with Animal Health
Veterinary involvement with inoculation of birds
- Clear instructions/training would be needed if the keepers were going to carry out the vaccinations, if the vet was prepared to authorise them to do so.
- The vaccine needed to be administered properly to be effective, keepers would need to be sure that the right quantity is delivered and ensure that they don’t inject themselves in the process. The datasheet would specify the dosage and injection method required.
- Biosecurity measures needed to be observed - there would be risk of moving virus around from holding to holding by contractors.
Movement of vaccinated birds
- Movement of poultry would only be allowed if the birds were shown to be disease free through testing.
- Once vaccinated, movement of birds from one place to another would need to be checked for presence of disease. Birds should be tracked.
- Movements should be allowed between vaccinated premises. Non vaccinated birds should be kept separate.
- If movements were allowed to take place then they would need to be registered on a database.
Poultry Products treatment rules
- A paper needs to be prepared for this item and presented at the next meeting for discussion
- Julian West from EDPC division to be invited to the next meeting to share his expertise in this area of work
2. Draft vaccination plan
- Graeme Cooke to incorporate all the comments/recommendations from this and previous meeting and turn the draft plan in to a document that would be sent to the EU Commission if vaccination were needed.
Action: Graeme Cooke to draft delivery plan.
3. Cost paper
- The cost paper was agreed by the group with minor amendments from the last meeting.
Defra
December 2006
Page last modified:
14 November, 2007