VIVEurope 2008 in Moscow provided an opportunity to incorporate the emerging Eastern European market into the biannual livestock and poultry trade show. Of the more than 5,500 visitors from 70 countries who attended, many were from the Ukraine and Belarus and most represented poultry farms.

In a talk on coccidiosis, Dr. Luciano Gobbi, an Italy-based veterinarian and technical service manager with Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health, explained how coccidiosis vaccination has evolved from a solitary control method into a broad management tool.

Anticoccidials remain the mainstay of coccidiosis control, yet coccidiosis remains widespread, costing poultry producers more than any other disease, Gobbi said.

A primary problem with anticoccidials is coccidial resistance resulting from overuse of the products. However, Gobbi presented evidence demonstrating how rotating a coccidiosis vaccine with anticoccidials restores ionophore sensitivity and yields bird performance within normal range.

Coccidiosis vaccination has other advantages. It complements flock thinning — the practice of periodically removing some birds, usually females, leaving the whole house to grow larger males — because no withdrawal feed or withdrawal time is needed; producers can pull light or heavy birds as needed to meet market demand.

Coccidiosis vaccination also simplifies life at the feed mill; there’s no need to clean equipment to prevent unwanted carryover of anticoccidials. Producers are also relieved of concerns about anticoccidial residues in broiler meat, he said.

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