Blackleg vaccines are in tight supply across the country and have been difficult to source all year.

A number of merchants, co-ops and vets have said that they are waiting on orders to come in, with some having no vaccine in stock at all.

This comes a week after the Department of Agriculture reported a nationwide rise in blackleg cases.

“We’re probably only getting a tenth of what we should be getting. We got six bottles here on 29 July and haven’t got any since – they keep pushing it out a month.

“We’re inundated with calls every day but it has been a washout trying to get vaccine this year,” a merchant in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Another merchant in Ballymote, Co Sligo, said that they can’t order vaccines on their system because it’s out of stock.

“There was no vaccine available in springtime. There’s a lot of calves who have gone out without any vaccination,” an Offaly co-op said.

Outbreaks

Vets have warned that the scarcity of vaccines could pose problems moving forward.

Damien Corcoran, a vet based in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, said he has had three cases of blackleg this week alone.

“The disease hits them like a tonne of bricks. Over the course of 12 hours, they’ll go from being perfectly fine to dead. When the vaccine is given correctly, it works really well,” he said.

MSD, manufacturer of Tribovax 10 and Tribovax T, said its sales are up due to greater demand for the product this year.

“We are trying to fill the gap that’s in the market and we have more stock coming in September,” a spokesperson for MSD said.

Zoetis said it hasn’t been able to supply the market in February, March, April and August, but expects a limited amount of supply in October.