Merck champions personalised pig vaccination at World Pork Expo amid rising disease pressures

At the World Pork Expo, Merck Animal Health unveils tailored vaccination strategies for pigs, highlighting new products and technology to adapt to evolving herd health challenges.

At the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Merck Animal Health used the event to push a broader message: swine vaccination is becoming less about one-size-fits-all protocols and more about matching products to herd status and production pressure.

Speaking to The Pig Site, Dr Megan Inskeep said farms that are mycoplasma-negative need vaccine plans that protect against other threats without complicating serology. Merck has now brought forward CIRCUMVENT CL, a ready-to-use option designed for pigs aged three weeks and older that combines protection against porcine circovirus types 2a and 2d with Lawsonia intracellularis, while avoiding the need to vaccinate for Mycoplasma in those herds, according to the company.

Merck also highlighted PORCILIS ILEITIS, its killed Lawsonia vaccine, as useful where antibiotics remain part of barn management. Inskeep said that, amid co-infections and PRRS outbreaks, producers should not have to choose between treatment and prevention.

The company is also promoting its IDAL intradermal device in the US, after years of use in Europe. Merck says the needle-free system delivers vaccine into the dermis, where immune cells are concentrated, and may improve animal comfort and worker safety by removing the risk of needle sticks and broken needles.

Merck is also betting on more customised vaccination through its SEQUIVITY platform, aimed at evolving disease pressures.