Merck launches new vaccine to protect young pigs from sapovirus

Merck Animal Health is expanding its Sequivity veterinary prescription vaccine platform to include a vaccine for sapovirus, an emerging virus that causes diarrhea in young pigs.

“Awareness of clinical disease related to sapovirus has been growing in the last two to three years, and veterinarians are now looking for tools to detect and manage this problem,” said Dr. Jack Creel, associate director of swine technical services at Merck. “We took the genetic sequence from sapovirus and inserted it into the [Sequivity] platform and now have a vaccine that veterinarians can prescribe for herds impacted by this disease,” Creel said.

Diarrhea is a common problem in young piglets and can be caused by a variety of pathogens. Recent research has indicated porcine sapovirus can be a significant factor in piglet enteritis, and production impacts from the resulting diarrhea can lead to a loss of 1-2 pounds of expected weaning weight.

According to Merck, there have been no commercial vaccines available for sapovirus. The company says that Sequivity, an RNA-based technology, can take genetic sequences of specific antigens found in disease-producing pathogens and create a safe and precise vaccine solution.