What are the vaccines and how are they given?
• Vaccines should always be used as detailed by the manufacturer. The vaccines, which all use killed not live virus, are designed for use in domestic cattle, sheep and pigs and work fast and well in all these species. The vaccines come in two forms – “oil emulsion” (given by intramuscular injection and used in cattle, sheep and pigs) and “aluminium hydroxide – saponin” (given by subcutaneous injection and used in cattle and sheep). In emergency situations high potency vaccines may be used which increase the speed and level of protection. Immunity begins to develop a few days after a single vaccine dose and for one-off Emergency Vaccination with a high potency vaccine (with all susceptible animals being vaccinated), one dose may be considered sufficient. With conventional lower potency vaccines, or if the risk of exposure to FMD Virus was considered likely to be long-standing, a second booster dose may be recommended after 2-4 weeks and again at 6 months (usually pigs and cattle) or 1 y
