UPDATE ON VETERINARY VACCINES: 1. TECHNOLOGICAL, PRACTICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Abstract

Vaccines for animals represent a quarter of the veterinary drug market in France. The penetration rate of vaccination in veterinary medicine in France depends on the species: very high in poultry and pigs, high in horses and dogs, still moderate or irregular in cattle and cats, low in small ruminants. The targets of veterinary vaccines are mainly viruses and bacteria, but also parasites and fungi. The routes of administration are very varied, particularly in poultry. Among the vaccine technologies used in veterinary medicine, a distinction can be made between conventional vaccines (live attenuated, inactivated, based on toxins or “toxoids”) and new generation vaccines (recombinants, vectors, DNA and RNA), as well as autogenous vaccines. One objective of vaccination is to limit the number of administrations, sources of stress, through multivalent vaccines with single administration and long duration of immunity. Motivations and restraints of the vaccination decision depend on the animal species, especially between farm and companion animals.