When people think of vaccines, they immediately think of needles or injections. Vaccine injection in fish is, however, different from humans in terms of the process, expenses, limitations, and the risk of using needles.
Dr. Channarong enumerated more on the process saying “We aren’t able to inject a fish directly as it will start moving which causes fish stress. Injecting a fish means, therefore, that the fish first needs to be made unconscious by way of soaking it in a sedative agent for a while, after that fish will be injected one by one by an expert. The process also involves transferring the vaccinated fish into the pond. All of this increases the costs and labor consumed.”
“Vaccine injection in fish also involves the risk of infections at injection sites. Another limitation is that we are unable to inject very small fish.”
Therefore, the needle–free AQUA INNOVAC is an alternative to injections with needles. It can effectively stimulate the specific immune responses of the fish at a lower cost and enable vaccination of a mass population of fish at one time (up to many thousands or millions). university in thailand
“Fish farmers can prepare FLAVO INNOVAC vaccination easily by themselves. The fish need to be immersed in water mixed with the vaccine for approximately 20-30 min in the proportions determined on the labels. During that time, the fish need to be given oxygen for the entire time. After receiving the vaccine, the fish can be released into the ponds right away. The nano vaccine is produced from the strain of Flavobacterium spp. locally isolated here in Thailand and is therefore very effective in the prevention of diseases occurred by a local strain of Flavobacterium spp.”
Vaccine delivery via Nanotechnology
Aside from being Thailand’s first Flavobacterium nanovaccine for fish, “FLAVO INNOVAC” is also the world’s first inactivated Flavobacterium nanovaccine against bacterial gills disease cause by Flavobacterium infection, that makes use of nanotechnology for its delivery.
“Nanotechnology helps encapsulate the vaccine antigens. When the fish is soaked in the nanovaccine which has positively charge, the vaccine can attach itself to the negatively charge of fish mucous membranes. The organic nanoparticles will then release antigens that help stimulate immunity of the fish continuously. Once those antigens have all been released the organic nanoparticles will gradually decompose within a short time, and without leaving the residues. This makes it safe for the fish, the environment and also the consumers.”
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