Zoetis India Limited conducted Series of Technical Seminar on “Best approach to control Mycoplasma in Poultry”

Zoetis is a global animal health company driven by a singular purpose to nurture our world and humankind in advancing care in animals. We stand by our customers and their businesses by providing solutions across the continuum of care to predict, prevent, detect, and treat diseases. The company develops and manufactures animal-health medicines and vaccines for companion animals, dairy, and poultry.  Zoetis provides Vaccines, Anti-Infectives, Disinfectants, Embrex biodevices, MFA, Anticoccidials and Toxin Binders. Today, the company has over 300 product lines globally, operating in more than 100 countries.

Zoetis India is dedicated to deliver quality products for the health of Animals. The Indian poultry market size reached a value of $ 24 billion in 2021. The industry is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.1% in the forecast period of 2022-2027 and to reach a value of approximately $ 40 billion by 2027. Every industry has its own challenges. Currently Mycoplasma and E. Coli are the major issues which are bothering the industry, most of the  farmers are losing their profits because of unprecedented level of Mycoplasma and E. Coli in the farm. There are multiple options available in market to tackle these issues, but somehow the farmers are not getting asatisfactory solution.

Looking at the plight of the farmers and current mycoplasma scenario, Zoetis India Limited recently conducted series of technical seminar at Hyderabad, Bangalore and Coimbatore. The topic was “Best Approach to Control Mycoplasma in Poultry”. Zoetis India has always tried to provide a sustainable solution in the form of various products. Mycoplasma is one of the organisms which is ubiquitous, and which lowers the profits of the farmers by increasing production cost. In the current scenario and for long term benefits preventive vaccination has proven efficacy against various bacterial and viral diseases. As Zoetis we understand the challenges faced by the farmers and therefore we have launched a complete solution against mycoplasma. We took this as an opportunity and conducted seminars with the help of poultry experts and tried to provide knowledge about the best approach against Mycoplasma.  

 Events started with welcome note from Dr Bhushan Gangurde (Group product Manager -Poultry) followed by brief introduction of the speakers Dr S R Anand and Dr Anupam Kr Srivastava . Dr S. R. Anand was the  guest speaker along with Dr Srivastava who is National technical Manager at Zoetis India Limited for all the events conducted at Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Coimbatore. Dr S. R. Anand  shared his insight about current scenario of poultry industry and difficulties faced by Indian Farmers. He specifically mentioned that how Mycoplasma is slowly affecting the health of the birds and reducing the productivity. He provided insight into various options to tackle Mycoplasma by the wide usage of live and killed vaccine. According to Dr. S. R. Anand, Anti-mycoplasma drugs are not meant to providelong term solution. Continuous use of Anti-mycoplasma drug will lead to development of resistance against Mycoplasma. He mentioned that  it’s only vaccine which will provide long term sustainable solution against Mycoplasma. Dr S. R. Anand mentioned that Mycoplasma gallispeticum and Mycoplasma synoviae are highly prevalent in India. He shared many reports of ELISA titers showing Mycoplasma infection in the farms. In his opinion Mycoplasma gallispeticum symptoms are more visible in the forms of clinical signs but Mycoplasma synoviae is hidden enemy which is creating a problem in later stage of breeder as well as layer. Dr S. R. Anand  also added that prevention is the best approach against mycoplasma spp. Dr S. R Anand Sir mentioned various available option in prevention program which includes live vaccine MG-TS11/MSH against MG (Mycoplasma gallispeticum) and MS (Mycoplasma synoviae) followed by MG and MS killed vaccine program in Breeder. Dr S. R. Anand also recommended to go for clean-up program with linco-spectin 100 before introducing the live Vaccine. Dr S. R. Anand said these cleanup programs followed by live vaccine will protect the flock u and if by any chance flock get infected at an advance age due to immunosuppression then uses any suitable molecule be to treat . Vaccinated birds will show good response versus non vaccinated birds. He mentioned various test methods like ELISA, PCR to diagnosed Mycoplasma infection. After vaccination he specifically mentioned to go for DIVA PCR which will identify vaccine strain and wild strain. Dr. S. R Anand also added his personal experience with vaccines like Vaxsafe® MG, Vaxsafe® MS and MG-Bac® and how these Zoetis vaccines are helping the farmers to reduce the treatment cost for mycoplasma. He also emphasized returns on investment after using Mycoplasma vaccine in the form of number of extra eggs in Breeder and improvement in the shell quality in layers.

Dr. Anupam Kr. Srivastava, Technical Head of Zoetis India, spoke about range of Zoetis products  against Mycoplasma. He also highlighted that how clean up of mycoplasma is very crucial before introducing vaccine. Dr Srivastava mentioned newly launched product Linco-Spectin® 100 for the cleanup program in Breeder and Layer. Linco-Spectin®100 is  not only effective against Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma Synoviae but also E. Coli. Dr Srivastava pinpointed the benefits of using Vaxsafe MG and Vaxsafe MSH in breeder as well as layer. He also recommended to use MG-Bac in breeder for a better chick quality and to transfer the maternal antibodies to next generation. He also mentioned that how Zoetis technical diagnostics and services are providing various benefits to the customers who are using Vaxsafe® MG and Vaxsafe® MS, he emphasized how these customers are getting a better returns on investment.

Poultry division is an integral part of Zoetis India. Since several decades Zoetis (earlier Pfizer animal health) has provided several solutions against various health issues in the form of vaccines, MFA’s (medicated feed additives), Parasiticides and Anti-infective. The trust that has been bestowed by farmers that a product coming from Zoetis will be the best in best  and will positively impact the bird’s performance. Considering this scenario and to address the issues Zoetis India conducted seminars to have fruitful discussion on current challenges in poultry. We believe that there was a strong take away messages from these technical seminars that “Vaccination is the long-term solution against Mycoplasma in Poultry”.

All the technical seminars were attended by important consultants and key opinion leaders of the industry. Feedback from attending consultants and farmers was very encouraging as the topic was pertinent and discussion was very informative .

Zoetis India is very much confident that Linco-Spectin® 100 , Vaxsafe® MG , Vaxsafe® MS and MG-Bac® is definitely new approach towards challenging Mycoplasma spp. and the combination of these will provide much sustainable and long term benefits to the farmers

For more details on  Linco-Spectin® 100, Vaxsafe® MG, Vaxsafe® MS and MG-Bac® please contact Zoetis field colleagues