Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Biological Vaccine for Cattle

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BOGOTA, Sep 13 2004 (IPS) - The Colombian agricultural research agency CORPOICA last week released the first biological vaccine developed in this country to fight 'ranillas', a blood disease spread amongst cattle by flies and ticks. The new product, Anabasán, immunizes cows against the parasites Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina and Anaplasma marginale, which cause losses of some five million dollars annually for Colombia's cattle industry, killing the animals or sharply reducing their productivity.

Luis Nieto, head of CORPOICA, told Tierramérica that just one dose of the vaccine provides lifetime immunity ''and is completely biological, meaning that it does not contaminate the environment, does not affect the quality of cow milk or beef, and poses no risk for the human consumer.'