VETS across the UK have welcomed a new vaccine against Mycoplasma Bovis, with 95 percent of those surveyed recommending its use where the disease is present.

The vaccine, which has been used in the US for several years, has since 2019 been assessed in a four-farm case study in Scotland by Graeme Fowlie at Meadows Vets, with the help of Dutch pharmaceutical firm Kernfarm. Since then it has been used by more than 56 vet firms across the UK under the VMD’s Special Import Scheme, with excellent results.The farm case studies demonstrated significant reductions in antibiotic usage and post-weaning mortality in dairy calves, while of the 40 vet practices surveyed, three-quarters rated the vaccine’s efficacy at 80-100 percent. More than 87 percent of them said they had seen reduced clinical signs and treatment required after using it, with 37.5 percent seeing improved response to any treatments used.